There has been a fall in fertility rates in European countries -- especially in the western part of the continent -- for the last few decades. Fewer couples choose to have more than one child, mainly due to rising costs and professional lifestyles.
In Spain, Sweden, Germany and Greece, the total fertility rate (which is calculated as the average number of children that a woman would give birth to) is 1.4 or lower. This is in stark contrast to the us' steady rate of 2. At 25 per cent, Italy has the highest percentage of people above 60 in the world.
With fewer skilled workers, a number of western European countries have had to open up their gates to immigrants. There have been significant reductions in state pension costs and governments are planning incentives to make people work beyond retirement age.
Above all, as some observers say, fewer children make a society colder.
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