No Babies Please, We're German

[Guest guest]

[The Germans are on the right path here, regarding

bringing down their population. To bad all other

nations don't follow suit. Overpopulation is by far

our species biggest problem. It's extremely disturbing

to see so many governments, and individuals, and

religions, in denial about this. Even the Germans are

only lowering their population because it happens to

fit into their 'lifestyle' at the moment. Not because

of any higher consciousness goals.....So what else is

new, I guess. Rick.]

 

 

No babies please, we're German

 

Source >

http://story.news./s/afp/germanypopulationeconomy

 

Sun May 15, 5:25 PM ET

 

BERLIN (AFP) - Germans have stopped having children --

and the number of couples opting for a childless life

is rising every year to the consternation of

politicians and employers in the eurozone's biggest

economy.

 

 

While figures released by the French government this

month showed France's population could balloon from

its current level of 60.2 million to 75 million by

2050, the

United Nations predicts that Germany's is set to

plummet from 82 million to 70.8 million in the same

period.

 

" I am nearly 35 years old, I am married and I haven't

got any children, " said Donna, participating in a

recent discussion on the Internet site of women's

magazine Brigitte.

 

" There is no particular reason apart from the fact

that I have never imagined myself having any. "

 

A study by Germany's federal institute for demographic

research showed that 26 percent of men and 15 percent

of women aged between 20 and 39 do not want to start a

family, a sharp rise since 1992 when the figures were

12 percent of men and 10 percent of women.

 

" There is an increasing belief that not having

children is the ideal way of life, " the authors of the

study concluded.

 

This growing trend has many people in Germany wringing

their hands.

 

With a rapidly ageing population, Germany is now

distancing itself from its European neighbours in

other ways too.

 

German women, for example, want an average of 1.7

children compared with at least two in most other

European countries. Forty percent of

university-educated women of child-bearing age are

without a child.

 

" Abandoning the idea of children is abandoning the

idea of life, " Otto Schily, the radical lawyer turned

German interior minister, said recently. He should

know: he has two daughters.

 

For many women however having children means

abandoning their careers.

 

Working mothers complain that all too often they are

seen as " Rabenmutter " , which translates as " cruel

mothers " -- women who dump their kids in childcare so

they can pursue their personal goals.

 

Yet in a country where schools generally finish for

the day at 1:30 pm, balancing work and children is a

headache.

 

" Places in creches are hard to get, and expensive, "

said Andrea, 35, in the Brigitte chat room. " I just

can't imagine myself having a child, staying at home

and becoming financially dependent on my partner or

the State. "

 

The German government has pledged to create 230,000

daycare places by 2010 and the idea of extending the

school day is under discussion in some regions.

 

Germans also tend to be students longer than in other

countries, with many still enrolled at university and

college until they are at least 30.

 

This lengthy study period is " a reliable method of

contraception, " said the minister responsible for

families, Renate Schmidt.

 

The trend towards childlessness is recent -- until the

start of the 1990s almost 60 percent of women aged

between 25 and 29 had a baby. The figure has plunged

to 29 percent today.

 

Many recent studies have pinpointed psychological

factors as putting the brake on the desire to start a

family.

 

" In Germany, having children isn't sexy, " said

Marie-Luise Lewicki, the editor of Eltern (Parents)

magazine.

 

" We don't just need creches and day-long schooling, we

need a change in society, " she said.

 

The federal institute for demographic research said

the main reason cited for not having children was the

lack of either a partner or a stable relationship,

which accounted for 83 percent of respondents.

 

However, nearly 60 percent said concerns for the

future of their potential children had dissuaded them.

 

In a different study, released by the Forsa polling

institute in January, only 29 percent of women pointed

to the financial burden of a child and only 39 percent

named not wanting to give up their career as their

reason for not having children.

 

Having a family " seems to have become an abstract

idea " , the federal institute concluded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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