Can Europe reverse its falling fertility rates?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2024
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Across the world fertility rates are falling and for the first time Europe is experiencing a sustained population decline. The average fertility rate for the European Union is 1.53 live births per woman. In Italy the fertility rate has remained low for the last thirty years, with an average 1.3 births per woman.
Some governments, who are concerned that not enough people are being born to keep their economies functioning in the long term are spending billions on incentives and policies to try and reverse the trend. But even in the Nordic countries, which are noted for some of the best family focused policies, these are proving ineffective against a markedly high drop in fertility rates over the last decade.
Society’s attitudes on when or whether to start a family are shifting, so does this mean that we need to change the way we approach the issue or even adapt to a future with fewer people?
On this week’s Inquiry, we’re asking ‘Can Europe reverse its falling fertility rates?’
Contributors: Anna Rotkirch, Research Director, Population Research Institute, The Family Federation of Finland, Helsinki Michael Herrmann, Senior Advisor on Economics and Demography, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Turkey Arnstein Aassve, Professor of Demography, Political Science Centre, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy Tomas Sobotka, Deputy Director, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Jill Collins Journalism Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producers: Nicky Edwards and Toby James Production Co-ordinator: Liam Morrey
Image Credit: PA via BBC Images
Transcript
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| 0:58.8 | Welcome to the inquiry on Charmincozia. |
| 1:01.6 | Each week, one question, four expert witnesses and an answer. |
| 1:07.0 | 2024 a major shift is in progress across Europe. |
| 1:17.0 | At the heart of it are babies, or rather a lack of them. |
| 1:21.5 | Last year, 678,000 were born in France. That's the lowest number there since World War II. |
| 1:30.0 | France is not alone. It shares a continent with Italy, Spain and Portugal, where birth rates have been flagging for decades. |
| 1:38.0 | Other countries in the region are also experiencing record lows. |
| 1:42.0 | Governments are worried that not enough people experiencing record lows. |
| 1:50.0 | Governments are worried that not enough people are being born to keep their economies functioning in the future as population's age. So they're spending billions on incentives and policies to try and increase numbers. |
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