Population Decline in Europe: A Major Demographic Challenge

A report on the population decline in Europe indicates that it has become a major demographic challenge facing the continent, raising concerns about its impact on the workforce and economic stability.

The report mentioned that the United Nations expects the population in European Union countries to peak next year, and then begin its first sustained decline since the "Black Death" in the 14th century.

It stated that various governments in Europe are working to address this issue with a mix of financial incentives and social policies.

It explained that Scandinavian countries have started forming committees to propose new strategies for addressing declining fertility rates.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron addressed the need for "demographic rearmament" after fertility rates dropped by 18% over the past decade. In some countries with nationalist leadership, governments offer generous financial incentives to boost reproduction, while promoting traditional families.

In Italy, bonuses are given to working mothers with two or more children. In Poland, monthly payments for families have been raised to $220 per child, and the president signed significant tax cuts for families with two or more children. These measures aim to encourage families to have more children and enhance population growth.

European experiences indicate that government programs, even the largest ones, may produce only partial effects. Despite some programs succeeding in slowing the pace of population decline, they have not been able to fully reverse the trend.

It stated that the Hungarian experience clearly shows these limits, where the country invested 5% of its GDP in family policies, but did not achieve the desired goal.

It pointed out that decisions related to reproduction are personal and complex, and often exceed the scope of government policies. These decisions include structural issues such as housing costs, inflation, and the availability of good healthcare and education. In addition, declining fertility rates reflect societal measures such as the availability of contraception, reducing teenage pregnancies, and enhancing women's education and career opportunities.

Data indicates that the fertility rate in the European Union has dropped to an unprecedented low of 1.38 births per woman. This has led more people to delay having children, with many starting in their late twenties or early thirties.

Hungary has been implementing reproductive incentives for about 15 years, where the fertility rate rose from 1.25 to 1.45 by 2015, then to 1.61 in 2021. However, the rate returned to decline, reaching 1.39 in 2024, reflecting ongoing challenges in achieving sustainable improvement. Some experts say that incentives may have simply encouraged people who were already planning to have children to do so sooner.

It noted that interviews with youth in Budapest showed that current policies do not address some of the biggest concerns about raising children, such as the deteriorating public education system and high living costs. It attributed to Hanna Keresztes, a 24-year-old university student: "I think they should improve other things. It's not enough to just provide help to parents."

It reported that there is a shared feeling among youth that focusing on stimulating reproduction solves only part of the problem, but does not adequately address the challenges they face after the birth of children.

It quoted Adam Petreszlai, father of 5-year-old twins and another child: "The costs of parenthood far exceed the incentives. It's hard in any country to have three children."

It sees migration as one of the solutions proposed for countries facing population decline, but in the coming decades, this issue becomes more complicated with declining fertility rates worldwide except in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It attributed to Stephen Shaw, the documentary director who covered population decline: "Migration will be just a temporary solution."

It concluded its report by stating that addressing the population decline problem in Europe requires a multifaceted approach that takes into account economic, social, and cultural factors, and considers that financial incentives may achieve some success, but sustainable solutions require comprehensive improvements to public infrastructure, education, and health, to foster an environment that enables families to grow permanently.