Question

Which demographic challenge is Europe currently experiencing?

Answer 1

The correct answer is - A. An aging and decreasing population.

Europe is a continent that has big troubles with the low birth rates in the past few decades. In almost all of the countries on the continent the birth rates are very low, not even enough for the population to stay at a same number, even though for such a thing, only an average of two children per women are needed. There's actually only two countries (three if we count Kosovo) in Europe that have birth rates high enough for the population to grow, Ireland and Albania.

The life expectancy is also relatively high in Europe, so the low birth rates, and high life expectancy are resulting in an aging population, which is slowly declining, but that decline is expected to increase significantly in the near future.

Answer 2

The answer is A. An aging and decreasing population is a demographic challenge that Europe is currently experiencing.

According to an article by the New York Times, written in 2008, the decrease in population was first noticed by european demographers in the 1990's, when evidence of a falling birthrate begin to appear, birthrate is the average number of births per woman.

Historically, birthrates tend to fall dramatically during wars or famines, however the fall that it has experienced during the last decades in developed countries obeys to different reasons. The shift of populations from rural areas to cities, and adopting urban lifestyles; higher living costs; and the incursion of women in the job market, are some of the reasons that could help explain this demographic tendency.