Where are populations declining? How are countries sufferring for low population growth?
Italy has more old than young folk. It will soon have difficulty funding the pensions of all its retired as fewer young workers replace them to pay for them.
European retirement ages have increased, in some places by ten years or more, again, a lack of new workers forces the old to work longer than before.
In r. of Ireland there were 8 million people 150 years ago, its population now is 3.8 million. 20 years ago it began to encourage women to enter the workforce due to a lack of workers. 10 years ago or so it was the first country in Europe to open its borders to all states due to a lack of working population for its growing industry.
Every European country is borrowing far beyond its means, like Greece 300 billion in debt and needing to borrow 130 billion or so to stay afloat, and it borrows this money from European states which themselves cannot pay it, as they in turn borrow money to pay those who need to borrow from them.
To me this suggests an ailing economy. A Europe with a too large percentage of old retiring workers, too much demand on health budgets and not enough work or new workers to spend and fund their countries growth.
"Two years ago, as the world’s population surpassed the high mark of 6 billion, scientists were sounding alarm bells over unchecked population growth, especially in the developing world.
But now there is a growing consensus among demographers over a new forecast: that women in nations with 80 percent of the world’s population will begin to limit their families to two children or fewer.
Before the century ends, the number of humans likely will start to shrink, reckons James Chamie, director of the United Nation’s population division. That will be a “momentous” reversal in direction.
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