Ominous scenarios for Greece: deaths exceed birth rates

According to experts, the population of Greece began to decline in absolute numbers since 2010.

There are now more deaths than births. If in 2010 there were 114,766 births against 109,084 deaths, then ten years later there were 84,717 births against 131,084 deaths. In our country population reproduction rate the lowest in Europe and one of the lowest in the world.

If the limit of reproductive stability is 2.1 children per woman, then in Greece it is 1.3.

This was stated by the honorary professor of the University of Piraeus and the leader of the group of the upcoming study on the topic “Healthy and active aging in Greece” (“Tης υγιούς και ενεργούς γήρανσης στην Ελλάδα”) Miltiadis Nektarios during event dedicated to demography, low fertility and population aging, organized by the Medical by the Thessaloniki Association within the framework of the 87th ΔΕΘ.

Healthy and active aging – This “the process of developing and maintaining functional capacity to promote well-being in old age.” Index active aging expressed in terms of the working population. In Greece it began to decline in 2010.

According to Mr Miltiadis Nektarios, “there is a clear need for older people to work – those who can, of course – because we need them, and this will become even more relevant as decades pass.” The expert also noted that the recent government decree on labor and taxation of pensioners will help in this direction if the employer’s side also responds to this.

Mr. Nektarios also noted the trend of population aging not only in the West, but also in the “second and third world” countries. “Imagine,” he said, “that even China faces the problem of an aging population.”

“The main causes of the problem are… reduction in mortalityAs medicine has worked wonders in the Western world, sanitation and eating habits have improved. Life expectancy has also increased. Consider that at the beginning of the 20th century, people lived on average… 40 years. Today we live to be 85 years old. However, in many societies where such conditions do not exist, life expectancy remains low, around 50 years,” Mr Nektarios said.

At the same time, he noted that the situation is irreversible, since none of the above factors will disappear or change. And he added: the idea that “the only way to achieve this is immigration” is untenable. “What is happening now in Europe with its immigration policy is completely wrong. We must select the country’s personnel according to rules and criteria. This is the policy of the country, which is not an unripe vine. There must be a systematic method that also takes into account the geopolitical events of the next thirty years.”

diNEOSis Research Director Faye Makandasi outlined all the ominous scenarios in the study for the Greek population, highlighting that the demographic roots go back to older generations as we have had a declining birth rate since 1940. “If current conditions and the main factors of the problem do not change, then, as scientists note, we will talk about reducing the population of Greece by half. At the same time, from the last years of the economic crisis to the present day, Thousands of workers, even those with a high educational level, left Greece“, she noted, in our country the percentage of working women is one of the lowest. and that must change.”

“Greek women give birth to their first child at an average age of 30.3 years. Almost every third birth in our country is performed by women aged 30-34 years and every fourth – by women aged 35-39 years. Greece also has one of the highest rates of first-born births to mothers over 40 in Europe (5.3%).

This delay in childbearing and the birth of the first child naturally reduces the chances of having a second or third child. Single-parent families are becoming more common, and more and more women are choosing not to have children.

What have other countries done with similar problems? Speakers at the ISTH debate noted that the impression that poor economic conditions are responsible for this decline is unproven, since prosperous economies have low birth rates. However, there are countries such as Sweden and France that have made significant progress and improved fertility rates by taking bold steps to support young couples socially, professionally and economically. France has implemented measures such as flexible parental leave, which can range from part-time work for a short period of time to a full three-year leave, with the employer paying nothing and the state providing benefits (35% of the minimum wage for those who choose a three-year license – about 350 euros per month).

Researchers at the National Center for Social Research (EKKE) in their diNEOSis study put forward a number of proposalsamong which are an increase in child benefits, the establishment of a premium for the birth of a child for mothers under 30 years of age (2,000 euros per child) and an increase in the amount of maternity benefits.

The mother’s integration into the labor market is encouraged, as is the father’s active participation in raising the child or children. It is also proposed to expand the criteria for registering children in nurseries from an early age, support municipalities in creating additional infrastructure for nurseries (which accept children up to 2.5 years old), as well as introduce new structures, such as an institute mother’s assistants (educated women looking after 4-5 children at home).

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