We Need More Babies 1

Gap-fill exercise

Fill in all the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble.
   ambitious      average      bias      bust      by      career      contracts      crash      cripple      dearth      decades      drop      faring      fertility      figure      having      increased      interrupt      lack      plummeted      population      pursued      shortage      soar      spiraling      stable      wards      workforce      youth   
babies1.jpg In much of Europe, rates have over the past few . Western European women were having an of 2.4 children each in 1970. But as women higher education, their role in the and started having babies later, that has fallen to 1.5 last year.
Hospital maternity already stand empty in parts of Latvia and Slovakia, and schools are closing in eastern Germany for of pupils. Germany, in fact, is experiencing such a birth that its population could from 82 million to 24 million by the end of the century.
Low rates in Italy and Spain, 1.29, spring from high unemployment, the prevalence of short-term work , a chronic of affordable housing for young people - and a in the workplace against women who their careers to have kids. Combining family and still doesn't seem like a realistic possibility for Italian women, as in Italy you're either seen as or not. And a child is seen as a sign that you're not."
Some countries like Sweden and its Scandinavian neighbors, Britain, Ireland, France and the Netherlands are relatively well, with rates above 1.7. Yet nowhere in the European Union does approach 2.1, the level needed to keep the population . That means that the of the E.U. could from 482 million today to 454 million by 2050. In the same period, the E.U.'s working age is projected to drop 18% while the number of those aged 65 or more will by 60%. If the trend continues, within a generation pension and health costs will European state budgets - and the Continent's economic growth rate.