Europe's Pregnant Pause

Dr. Samuel Gregg (pictured), of the Acton Institute, gives the entire continent of Europe advice about their declining fertility rates: 'Populate or Perish.'

Intriguing warning.

Gregg writes,"However one examines the statistics, the demographic picture for Europe—including Eastern Europe and Russia—is bleak. Statistically-speaking, the numbers of births per woman required merely to maintain a population’s size is 2.1 children. Not a single European country meets that figure today. Germany’s birth-rate, for instance, is 1.38. Italy’s is 1.41. Spain’s is 1.39. France and Britain are doing comparatively well at 2.0 and 1.94 respectively, but—you guessed it—Greece is the lowest in the EU."

In a nutshell ... Europeans aren't as fertile as they once were, because they are not as religious as they once were, nor are they as economically stable as they once were. A pity.