Crowded Britain
Tubby Isaacs wrote:
Joking aside (we Germans don't do jokes), the answer is probably not enough shagging and immigration.
To be honest, though, I'm stumped as to why the birth rate should be so low here compared to other western European countries. Going by my own experience, it's a pretty good place to have kids, partially due to measures brought in to stop the decline.
The drop in the birth rate in eastern Germany is easy to explain, being down to economic uncertainty and the fact that large swathes of it are becoming depopulated anyway as everyone has had to move west to look for work. They had a comparatively high birth rate in the GDR. They also started early: I know quite a few Ossis of my age who have grown-up kids. In addition, they had very comprehensive child-care facilities over there. Even now, very few children in western states are guaranteed a kindergarden place.
My guess is that it takes so long before people finish their studies or apprenticeships and are in a position to start a family. I'm forty now with one kid and I don't think we could go through all the hassle of having another one now. I suspect a lot of people are in the same boat.
There are some exceptions. Soon after the wall came down, the Prenzlauer Berg area of East Berlin was taken over by Wessi students in their twenties. Now that these people are in their thirties and forties and quite prosperous, the place is absolutely teeming with kids.
Tubby Isaacs wrote:
You're still stuck with us.
AB, what explains the German population drop?
AB, what explains the German population drop?
To be honest, though, I'm stumped as to why the birth rate should be so low here compared to other western European countries. Going by my own experience, it's a pretty good place to have kids, partially due to measures brought in to stop the decline.
The drop in the birth rate in eastern Germany is easy to explain, being down to economic uncertainty and the fact that large swathes of it are becoming depopulated anyway as everyone has had to move west to look for work. They had a comparatively high birth rate in the GDR. They also started early: I know quite a few Ossis of my age who have grown-up kids. In addition, they had very comprehensive child-care facilities over there. Even now, very few children in western states are guaranteed a kindergarden place.
My guess is that it takes so long before people finish their studies or apprenticeships and are in a position to start a family. I'm forty now with one kid and I don't think we could go through all the hassle of having another one now. I suspect a lot of people are in the same boat.
There are some exceptions. Soon after the wall came down, the Prenzlauer Berg area of East Berlin was taken over by Wessi students in their twenties. Now that these people are in their thirties and forties and quite prosperous, the place is absolutely teeming with kids.
Comment