The demographic drop

Eurostat recently published a survey which shows that to date, Greece is one of the EU country with the lowest birth rates (9%). The most immediate conclusion is that the economic crisis and unemployment make people more unwilling to have children. However, at a closer glance we find that Germany has even lower birth rates (8.4%) which disproves that assumption. These two cases show that the number of children is not directly proportional to the amount of money available. Rich countries are not those with the highest number of children and nor -contrary to preconceptions – are the poorest ones. Indeed, a direct link between richness and birth fertility does exist, but it’s more complicated.The impoverishment of society can lead people to postpone the decision to give birth to a child and could even prompt an inclination to a rapid accumulation of wealth and easy ways of making money. If there were no relationship between richness and fertility rates then the efforts to invest greater amounts of public money in family policies would be senseless. But there’s a great difference between Greece and Germany, between the condition of rich countries and those in financial difficulties. Wealthy Germany attracts migrants also from other EU countries, and migration mitigates demographic decrease. Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, Ireland, Estonia, Portugal and Spain, are marked by – more or less serious – population decreases.However, an important role is played by economics as well as cultural tradition. In his analysis of the crisis in Europe John Paul II pointed out that a major factor of this situation is a lack of hope, which make people unwilling to engage in long-lasting relationships on the assumption that life is a commodity which is not worthwhile passing on to the next generation. To this should be added consumerism as a mentality and a lifestyle, geared at immediate pleasure of individuals freed of their own responsibilities.Finally, in popular culture, the concern of the so-called “creatives” is hard to find. On the contrary, in the media and advertising realms, the social model is characterized by a rupture with love, which everyone yearns for, and fertility, which conversely is conceived as a sort of anathema, a cumbersome relic of human beings’ origination from the animal kingdom, in a yet unfulfilled liberation process to be realized as soon as possible. In this argument, the culture of sterilization and of the right of abortion, simply put: a life without children, is ever present. The idea that procreation is the goal of the sexual act and that for this purpose nature has given man and woman the ability and the possibility to give mutual pleasure is considered a cumbersome heritage of bygone times. The thought that “complete sexual intercourse – writes Fabrice Hadjadj – is a prolific act, with a mother-in-law in the background and grandchildren as a future perspective, are rather to be found in the framework of in vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, adoptions by same-sex couples, overpopulation and climate changes. They are items of discussion as objects for adults, for their pleasure or convenience.But positive figures also emerge from the above-mentioned Eurostat survey. Over the past year the European population grew from 504,6 a 505,7 million. Figures show that in 80% of the cases the increase is due to migrant flows. However, it should be noted that although new immigrants should be welcomed, especially those from countries with tragic living conditions, migration and family policies are different. Europe is thus experiencing a demographic crisis not for a lack of immigrants but because Europeans give birth to few children. Migration could alleviate the demographic crisis, but it does not represent a permanent solution.In this framework the fact that Turkey – a country where birth rates are at 17% and where the population grows by one million inhabitants each year, despite modest population decrease – aspires to EU adhesion, deserves special reflection. During a debate on demography the Orthodox bishop asked the Turkish minister how it happened that in 100 years of the history of the Turkish State Christianity has almost disappeared, given its ideologically neutral feature. The minister said that the government encourages Turkish families to have at least three children. Christians unfortunately don’t follow the government’s advice, he added. Naturally, the reply is inconsistent from a historical perspective, however, that interpretation should be taken into account, in the light of the recent appeal by German Cardinal Meisner: “Dear women, stay at home and have at least three-four children”.Let’s return to the economic factor. A revitalization of demographic trends requires the rediscovery of the social value of maternity and household work. It’s ironic that domestic work carried out as a salaried job by an external worker, whether a cook, maid or baby-sitter, is considered on the same level of any other salaried job while when carried out by a housewife, by a mother, wife or female relative, it lacks due consideration on the part of the State. This paradox should be solved. And it should be solved also in the case that that role is carried out by a man, as often happens in our constantly changing societies. And it’s no paradox.