French Baby Bust Fuels Concerns Over Graying Europe

All those cat-loving childless unhappy ladies are at fault here...

 

"Fewer French babies were born last year than at any time since World War II, highlighting the economic risk to a rapidly aging Europe.

A total of just under 678,000 babies were born on French territory last year, France's statistics authority said Thursday. The 6.6% drop from the prior year outstrips the rate of decline across the wider European Union, and is the fastest since the postwar baby boom ended in the 1970s, the agency said.

Mothers of all ages bore fewer children in 2023, the figures showed.

In mainland France, fewer babies were born than in any year since 1944, when the country was battling to free itself from German occupation.

France's dwindling birthrate is reflected across Europe's largest economies, and marks a demographic headache for a continent facing other headwinds. The EU is expected to reach a population peak in 2026 before sliding gradually over the following decades, albeit with varying trajectories across member nations, according to the European Commission's latest aging report released earlier this year.

"At the same time, a strong upward shift in the age distribution is expected in all member states," the report said. The fertility rate is set to stay below the natural replacement rate at which a population used to stay steady across the bloc, and life expectancy will continue to rise. Meanwhile, all members will see a boost to their populations from net migration, the EC said.

Despite that boost from migrant workers, the proportion of working-age citizens will gradually fall, putting an ever-greater brake on growth and a heavier burden on pensions and healthcare for retirees.

In France, a controversial reform to raise the retirement age to 64 -- and ease the state's pension payload -- remains in the balance in a divided legislature.

A repeal of that reform would cast doubt on France's longer-term credit attractiveness, Moody's said last month, as it lowered its outlook on the country to negative from stable." [1]

You will all die like feral cats without health care and pensions.

 

1. World News: French Baby Bust Fuels Concerns Over Graying Europe. Kirby, Joshua.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 15 Nov 2024: A.7.