Age counts!

Submitted by gwk (United States), Apr 15, 2008 at 06:53

Regarding population and fertility -- Europe is in a fine pickle! In 2000, the average European woman was about 40 years old and she had a slim chance of upping her fertility at that age. In fact the majority of European women are probably beyond their fertile age, and the best they can hop for (on average) is a lot of grandchildren to take care of as they approach, and through the early years, of their retirement.

In contrast, the average female who immigrated to or is a child of immigrants in Europe is about 18 years old.She has here entire fertile life ahead of her. If she carries out the will of her imam and follows the hyper-fertile pattern of the Muslim world over the past sixty years, she will average between 4 to 6 children. They will be born early in life and her children will follow the same pattern.

No amount of nationalism will ever outlaw childbirth, particularly in countries where freedom of fertility choice has long been regarded as a right to the extent that is has caused a looming population collapse. Therefore if there is a resurgent push to repopulate Europe through grants and incentives, the largest beneficiaries of such programs would be the immigrants themselves. Nor will nationalism engender a spirit of identification and assimilation on the part of the immigrants with their host nationality.

Ollie -- that's a fine pickle you've gotten us into!

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