Between desire and reality: Desire for children and birth trends in times of multiple crises
About the content of the presentation:
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, birth rates in Germany and Europe have fallen to historically low levels. In 2024, the birth rate in the European Union was 1.3 children per woman. Even some Nordic countries, whose highly equal societies have long had relatively high birth rates, recorded rates of less than 1.5. A permanently low or further declining level of birth rates poses challenges for social security systems and the pool of skilled workers. Against this backdrop, the question arises as to whether the recent decline is just a temporary shift in family planning or whether this low level will stabilize in the long term. To answer this question, it is worth taking a look at the personal wishes for children in society.
The lecture will shed light on the desire to have children in various European countries and the discrepancy between the desired and actual number of children - the so-called "fertility gap". The aim is to show what conclusions can be drawn from this for future fertility trends in Germany and what role social uncertainties in the context of the current multiple crises - COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, increased inflation and climate change - play in the sharp decline in fertility rates.
About the Advisor:
Dr. rer. pol. Carmen Friedrich has been working as a Research Associate at the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) in Wiesbaden since 2023. Her core research areas are fertility and the desire to have children in Germany and in a European comparison, as well as fertility in the context of migration and integration.
Moderation:
Prof. Dr. Marcel Thum and Prof. Dr. Joachim Ragnitz
Date and location:
Monday, 11.05.2026, 6:30 p.m.
ifo Institute, Dresden Branch
Einsteinstraße 3
01069 Dresden
Registration:
We cordially invite you to this lecture and look forward to welcoming you to this event. Due to limited seating capacity, we kindly ask you to register. Please use our online form to register.