Reproduction productivity increases in Europe

USA Today:

Europe is in the midst of a baby boomlet after fretting for two decades that European women weren't having enough children to replenish graying populations and sustain economic growth.

At least 16 countries, stretching from Iceland to Italy, saw modest upticks in their birthrates from 2004 to 2006.

Roughly half the continent has reversed declining fertility rates or halted their slide, says William Butz, president of the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau (PRB), which tracks worldwide population trends.

The increases are small, but the trend bucks a 20-year decline that had politicians, economists and church leaders sounding alarms about a shortfall of workers to pay the pensions of the post-World War II baby boomers starting to reach retirement age.

The European Commission warned last year that falling rates had the potential to cut European Union economic growth as far out as 2050. Stagnant or declining rates could shrink the number of working-age Europeans by 20 million a year over the next 15 years, the commission predicted. The result: Europe would go from four working-age residents to two for each retiree by 2050.

...

I think Mark Steyn should get some credit for this although he has not fathered any of the kids to my knowledge. He has written the book on the Europeans' declining birth rate and its implications. He was particularly concerned about the soaring birthrate among Muslims. There is no indication in this story how much of the growth is attributable to Muslim immigrants. The story indicates the Pope also favored more babies and I am pretty sure he fathered none of them either.

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