Fewer Births in Europe Since 2008 Economic Crisis
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Fewer babies have been born in Europe since the start of the 2008 financial crisis, ending a Europe-wide upswing in the birth rate, claims a new study.
The study, conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, found that the birth rate in 28 European countries dropped as unemployment rose.
Fewer babies have been born in Europe since the start of the 2008 financial crisis, ending a Europe-wide upswing in the birth rate, claims a new study.
The study, conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, found that the birth rate in 28 European countries dropped as unemployment rose.
Europeans under the age of 25 have especially restrained from having children in the face of rising unemployment rates, the research shows. According to its findings, if unemployment rises by one percentage point, the birth rate per woman for 20 to 24 year olds sinks 0.1 percent across the continent and 0.3 percent in Southern Europe.
However it notes that many may be postponing having a family rather than deciding not to have one at all.
The fall in birth rates has hit Southern European countries the hardest, especially in Spain, where the total fertility rate – the number of births per woman – fell nearly eight percent between 2008 and 2011 as unemployment rose from 8.3 percent to 11.3 percent. Today, Spanish unemployment stands at 26.8 percent.
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“The financial crisis hit Europe at a time when birth rates in many countries had just began rising again,” said MPIDR demographer and co-author of the report Michaela Kreyenfeld, adding that the upward trends in some countries had come to a halt while in others birth rates declined.
Hungary, Ireland, Croatia and Latvia had significant drops in their birth rates, the report found, while Czech Republic, Poland, Britain and Italy saw a halt in the rise in birth rates.
But in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where labour markets have weathered the crisis comparatively well, there was almost no change in the number of children born.
The relationship between the economy and fertility, though controversial, has long been debated and researchers at MPIDR said their study proved that “the extent of joblessness in a contemporary European country does in fact have an effect on birth rates”.
Related: Millions Falling Into Poverty As Italy Endures Recession and Soaring Unemployment
Earlier in May, a study by Eurostat, Europe’s main statistics agency, also found a correlation between the recession and falling European birth rates across the majority of EU countries.
“In 2008, several European countries entered a period of economic crisis, usually featuring a fall in gross domestic product. From the start of the recession, the total fertility rate started to decline across Europe,” Eurostat senior statistician Giampaolo Lanzieri wrote in the report “Towards a ‘Baby Recession’ in Europe?“.
According to Eurostat, the total number of live births fell by 3.5 percent between 2008 and 2011, from 5.6 to 5.4 million, and the number of countries which recorded a fall – compared to the previous year of 2007 – grew from one country to 26 countries out of 31.
“Decreases in fertility became a common feature in Europe with a time lag. The peak of the crisis (in terms of geographic reach) in 2009 was accompanied by stagnation of the total fertility rate in several countries, followed by a distinct fall,” Lanzieri said. The European crisis – with its impact on living costs, wages, employment and housing – is having a direct and major impact on family planning.
“A recession can influence fertility in various ways, although its effect may be softened by government interventions. Apart from the direct impact of the crisis at individual level, the economic uncertainty that can spread in periods of hardship may influence fertility,” Lanzieri said.
