Researchers said they have noticed a particularly sharp downward trend in eastern Germany. A new report estimates almost 80,000 fewer children were born in 2022 and 2023 than would have been expected.

The Ifo Institute for Economic Research said in a new report released Wednesday that Germany is seeing a sharp decline in birth rates, with federal states in the east of the country the most affected.

Researchers at the leading economic think tank cited a number of reasons behind the declining birth rate, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Additionally, high inflation has prompted “young families to put off having children for the time being,” said Ifo researcher Joachim Ragnitz.

  • leisesprecher@feddit.org
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    8 days ago

    The quality already drops, because you can’t find people to do stuff.

    You literally can’t get someone to replace your furnace/heatpump within the next month. There are not enough people to care for seniors, not enough people to stock shelves. Doesn’t sound super nice.

    • LouNeko@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      No, no, no. There are enough people, just not enough people who can go through 3 years of shit apprenticeship pay to become a worker. Once upon a time you could maybe get by with an trainee salary, then people had to be supported by their parents, then they had to either be in a romantic relationship or live in dorms to share an apartment, in addition to their parents support. Now, even that isn’t enough anymore.

      • leisesprecher@feddit.org
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        8 days ago

        No, there are not enough people. You can’t find enough people to stock shelves, that is an extremely unqualified job, it takes about 15min of training to do it.

        • LouNeko@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          A shortage of unskilled labor is almost unheard of, especially on a large scale. Local businesses having trouble to stock their shelves is a sign of a failing business rather than a unskilled worker shortage.

          • orrk@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            well it’s happening , in germany, right now, on a large scale, in every sector