Europe’s struggle not to disappear

There were two developments this week in Europe's battle with declining birthrates and aging populations. In Germany, the government just raised the retirement age to 67: The German Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, has voted to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67. Germany has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, and ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

There were two developments this week in Europe's battle with declining birthrates and aging populations. In Germany, the government just raised the retirement age to 67:

There were two developments this week in Europe's battle with declining birthrates and aging populations. In Germany, the government just raised the retirement age to 67:

The German Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, has voted to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67. Germany has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, and on current trends the population aged over 65 will almost double to 30% by 2035. 

Meanwhile, Polish authorities announced a package of family-friendly incentives to combat virulent empty-nestism.

Announcing the pro-family programme, deputy labour minister Joanna Kluzik Rostkowska said one of the main problems is that Polish women face discrimination in the workplace…The minister announced plans to increase maternity leave, extend opening hours for kindergartens and introduce tax breaks for families with children. She said France started its pro-family policy 15 years ago. It now has the highest fertility rate in the EU.

The phenomenon of low birthrates in Eastern Europe is particularly interesting for European demographics because it means that western Europe will have to look elsewhere for labor to help support its aging population and generous welfare state—and that probably means the Islamic countries around the Mediterranean.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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