Many European countries are dismayed at all of the refugees pouring in from Syria and other war-torn Islamic countries. But Germany is welcoming them, going so far as to promise to take in 800,000 of them. So why is that?
Because Germany has the lowest birth rate in the world (8.2 babies per 1,000 people), and the population is projected to drop from today’s 81 million to 68 million in the next few decades. Germans know that this population implosion could be devastating to their economy and their society, and they hope that an injection of people who don’t mind having children will help.
Does anyone know why Germans and other advanced nations have virtually stopped having children? Is this a symptom of the sexual revolution? Feminism? The decline of marriage in favor of living-together and perpetual singleness? Or what?
From Henry Chu, For Germany, refugees are a demographic blessing as well as a burden – LA Times:
International leaders and human rights organizations have lined up to praise Germany for its magnanimous response to Europe’s overwhelming migrant crisis. Calling it a moral duty, the government in Berlin has pledged to accept as many as 800,000 refugees this year from violence-racked countries, and potentially half a million more annually for several years to come.
Besides altruism, there’s a starkly practical reason for Germany to put out the welcome mat: The nation’s population is shrinking at an alarming rate, and it desperately needs skilled, motivated and industrious folks like Alkhamran to replenish its workforce and keep its powerhouse economy humming.
In other words, helping to alleviate Europe’s refugee crisis could help defuse Germany’s demographic one.
“We need people. We need young people. We need immigrants,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere declared recently. “All of you know that, because we have too few children.”
Germany’s birthrate is the lowest in the world, with 8.2 babies born each year per 1,000 people, according to a study released by a German think tank this year. When it comes to reproducing, Germans now even underperform the Japanese, whose notoriously low fertility rate has long been the source of official hand-wringing.
By 2060, Germany’s population could drop from about 81 million today to as low as 68 million, and would most likely be surpassed by Britain and France, potentially changing the balance of power in Europe.
More ominously, the proportion of working-age residents here in Europe’s biggest economy is on track to decline from 61% to 54% of the population within the next 15 years, meaning fewer workers contributing to the generous social-security benefits, such as pensions and healthcare, enjoyed by the fast-growing pool of retirees.
Admitting vast numbers of asylum seekers could offset some of these trends, though it could also fuel others, such as the disturbing rise recently in attacks on foreigners. The government’s forecast of 800,000 refugees equals 1% of the population.
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