As for Germany’s endless fretting about low birth rates, pleas to reform its ridiculous child benefit policies have existed for years. Year after year, German feminists fail to get these good, useful measures passed. Year after year, politicians whine and fear-monger about low birth rates.
And the easy solution that’s at hand and that’s proven to work is not even considered. It’s easier to blame women than actually to do something.
Clarissa's Blog 
Liberal preschool policies would cause the traditional German Christians to out-breed the Muslim immigrants?
You’re joking, right?
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The idea that I would use the word “out-breed” is weird in the extreme.
And what do the Muslim immigrants have to do with it? The issue has existed for over 2 decades.
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No, that was my accurate way of describing the current demographics resulting from the EU’s (and especially Germany’s) ill-advised “let everyone in” policy.
The last two decades was a trickle, until Angela Merkel took her finger out of the dyke, and let the deluge come pouring in.
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“And what do the Muslim immigrants have to do with it? The issue has existed for over 2 decades.”
One of the justifications for Merkel’s folly was that declining population meant that Germany had to bring in lots of new people. The EU (like the US) is run by people who take it as an item of religious faith that there are no significant differences among people by race, ethnicity, religion or culture and that any differences that seem to exist can quickly be overcome by government measures…
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Yes, of course. But the problem existed for a long time. There were ample opportunities to do something about it. But no, instead there was the endless whining about there not being enough taxpayers to keep the welfare system alive. Like that was seriously anybody’s concern.
There were ways to solve the problem of birth rates a while ago. And I keep pointing this out because I’m tired of the hypocrisy surrounding the issue.
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“There were ways to solve the problem of birth rates a while ago.”
Well all through the 80s and 90s that I recall the drumbeats were all about how people were having too many babies (books like the Population Bomb).
People in the west paid attention and are now derided as fools for doing so.
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“Well all through the 80s and 90s that I recall the drumbeats were all about how people were having too many babies (books like the Population Bomb).”
Of course, a bad situation with daycare is not the only reason. There is also the consumerist culture, the death of religion, the fashion of infantilism.
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“Well all through the 80s and 90s that I recall the drumbeats were all about how people were having too many babies (books like the Population Bomb).
People in the west paid attention and are now derided as fools for doing so.”
I also heard this rubbish in school recently from the same people that lectured about diversity and multiculturalism.
In my family my german half seemed to fall for it hook, line, and sinker. The German side is now shrinking. The Jewish half of my family from Eastern Europe was not duped by that propaganda. The Jewish side is currently growing.
People that were duped believe that they are saving the environment from overpopulation. Of course as soon as the population lowers the same people that preached this garbage say we need immigrants because of low birth rates to save the economy and the welfare system.
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Well all through the 80s and 90s that I recall the drumbeats were all about how people were having too many babies (books like the Population Bomb).
A trivial to non-existent people had less children or none at all “for the planet.”
Having children, especially in developed societies, is expensive. That’s it.
Nobody bothered to rejigger systems for lowered birthrates. They just assumed the same or growing levels of population. Even in developing countries people have less children and I see this with both sides of my family.
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“Having children, especially in developed societies, is expensive. That’s it.”
In retrospect I tend to suspect the purpose of the book was to help people rationalize their economic choice to have fewer children.
IIRC the independent variable in declining birthrates is female education. And the areas of the world with higher birthrates show low education results in general and women in particular.
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Of course, nobody is suggesting that people should go back to having 10-15 children. But I believe it is possible to set up a system where people feel comfortable having 2 or 3 kids if that’s what they want to do. But this implies a cultural change more than economic.
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I’ve seen this in Poland where young women who want families are afraid of getting married (and having kids) because it kills their job prospects and Poland is a place were it usually two paychecks to keep a household running.
The current government’s plan is 500 + which gives families 500 zloties (about $ 125 a month) for each child after the first though single mothers are ineligible.
Lots of people point out that the kind of people who are likely to be convinced to have more kids for 100 bucks a month are not the ones liable to produce children who will end up working (legally), but facilities for taking care of children (beyond a few hours in the day) are not a priority for the government.
Despite this the birth rate seems to have ticked up slightly with more births being recorded in the first half of 2016 than in the first half of 2015 but I don’t know how significant it is.
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\The current government’s plan is 500 + which gives families 500 zloties (about $ 125 a month) for each child after the first though single mothers are ineligible.
Nice to exclude the kids of single mothers who would benefit the most from the money. I do not believe this sum covers child expenses, or does it?
Is government afraid single women would have children to get 500 zloties per month, or is it merely a way to show social disapproval?
Don’t think it could be thus in Israel, where single mothers get additional help via tax breaks, etc.
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“government afraid single women would have children to get 500 zloties per month, or is it merely a way to show social disapproval?.”
My guess is that it’s one part social disapproval for religious reasons and four or five parts not thinking things through (the Polish parliament is notorious for passing poorly thought out and/or ambiguous legislation).
Visibly pregnant brides used to be the norm in Poland so it’s not like there’s a cultural prohibition against pre-marital sex (the prohibition is against talking about it).
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“But I believe it is possible to set up a system where people feel comfortable having 2 or 3 kids if that’s what they want to do. But this implies a cultural change more than economic.”
I would like such a system, but the cultural change requires disregarding some significant part of the neoliberal consensus that government paying for childcare for working women is wrong. I suspect that’s the biggest problem.
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\ people feel comfortable having 2 or 3 kids if that’s what they want to do
In Israel, among secular Jews, two kids is a minimum and three – a norm. Obviously, Haredi have much more.
It’s sometimes true even for single mothers. I know one woman who divorced and then (in old age, relatively) had two children as a single mother by choice.
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Israel is not a good example because a post-genocidal culture has an entirely different powerful set of motivations in this respect.
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I wonder when the Israeli culture will stop being post-genocidal. How many years / generations does it usually take?
Pity you haven’t written about qualities of post-genocidal cultures. I got two so far:
valuing having numerous children
“no Jew left behind” attitude, especially when the said Jew is a captive soldier.
On another topic, have you read “The Last Puritan” by George Santayana?
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Hey, the Armenian genocide took place exactly 100 years ago, and the genocide mentality is still there.
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Why aren’t Ukrainians having babies after holodomor?
Armenia is also shrinking. their birthrate is 1.74 children per woman.
I hope other countries will follow Israel’s example. Israel is the country that I think is closest to getting the immigration, feminism and family issues correct.
Israel protects itself and has a future without going overboard and committing genocide. A rare feat it seems.
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Ukrainians were not allowed to preserve the historical memory of the Holodomor. People didn’t talk about it, didn’t pass down the memory. There was no consciousness of a genocide. It was all buried deep inside.
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Reader el, I know you will like this story: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=803359169803565&id=100003884685493
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