In the eyes of many around the world the COVID experience of Australia and New Zealand has been a relatively benign one. But as I mentioned last week (here and here) New Zealand is going to have to deal with some significant demographic headwinds in the years ahead due to the pandemic. Now, it seems as if […]
Today I thought that I’d draw your attention to a particularly repulsive ad that graces a bus stop in Vancouver. The ad features a picture of a cute baby, smiling, looking with joy out at commuters. Underneath it, the ad says: “The most loving gift you can give your first child is not to have another.” […]
Last week we learned that Ireland’s birth rate has fallen by almost 25% in the last five years. That includes all births registered here. Like most other European countries, we now have a birth rate well below the 2.1 births per woman needed to replace the population. In the more immediate term, we face the challenge […]
Last week, we reported on a startling study from The Lancet which warned that a population crash – where the number of people in a country starts to shrink – was fast-approaching and would have a devastating impact on societies. With fewer and fewer young people to support an ageing world population, we face massive […]
India is about to overtake China as the world’s most populous country (if it hasn’t already done so). With around 1.4 billion people and a population density of nearly 400 people per kilometre, one often associates population explosion with Indian demographics. Indeed, the sight of India in the 1960s was one of the major influences […]
The world is facing an unprecedented crisis and a population crash which scientists say will require a re-organisation of societies, according to a new study. It’s forecasted that 23 countries will see their populations shrink by more than 50% including Spain, Italy and Japan – with massive negative knock-on effects for economic growth, jobs and […]
Turkey is a young country with a quickly growing population. Nearly a quarter of Turkey’s 84 million people are children, below the age of 15, while less than 9 per cent are elderly (over the age of 65). Turkey’s population is also a quickly growing one: in the last fifty years it has nearly trebled […]
Last week the Italian parliament passed a bill aimed at boosting the country’s low birth rate by supporting parents. “We have approved the Family Act to support parenting, combat the falling birth rate, encourage the growth of children and young people, and the help parents reconcile of family life with work, especially for women,” Premier Giuseppe Conte […]
Iran went through a baby boom in the 1980s. This was in the aftermath of the revolution in 1979 and while the country was in the midst of a war that would leave at least a third of a million of its people dead. Families were encouraged to strengthen Iran by producing “soldiers for Islam” […]
The tiny but fiercely distinctive and geo-politically strategic nation of Armenia is facing a demographic crisis. Its population is about 2.9 million, its fertility rate is about 1.6, far below replacement level, and the population is slowly shrinking. The government is alarmed and launched some initiatives in March to reverse the trend — including testing the […]
All around the world, and not just in developed countries, fertility rates are plummeting. For many people, including dedicated demographers, large families and healthy fertility rates belongs to a bygone era. Many have also become skeptical of the fact that the Christian faith can still have the seemingly magical power of keeping fertility rates up. […]
Sometime last year, I got a phone call from a reporter from the Huffington Post who was working on a piece that was obviously intended to be a hatchet job directed at the pro-life movement. She quizzed me intensely on the alt-right and abortion, and seemed genuinely surprised when I pointed out that the alt-right […]