Editing Millennials (section)

===Europe===
{{See also|Aging of Europe|Russian Cross}}
[[File:Population pyramid of the European Union 2016.png|thumb|400x400px|Population pyramid of the European Union in 2016]]
From about 1750 to 1950, most of Western Europe transitioned from having both high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates. By the late 1960s and 1970s, the average woman had fewer than two children, and, although demographers at first expected a "correction", such a rebound came only for a few countries. Despite a bump in the [[total fertility rate]]s (TFR) of some European countries in the very late twentieth century (the 1980s and 1990s), especially France and [[Scandinavia]], it returned to replacement level only in Sweden (reaching a TFR of 2.14 in 1990, up from 1.68 in 1980),<ref>{{cite web|title=Summary of Population Statistics 1960–2020|url=https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/population/population-composition/population-statistics/pong/tables-and-graphs/yearly-statistics--the-whole-country/summary-of-population-statistics/#Fotnoter|website=[[Statistics Sweden]]}}</ref> along with Ireland<ref>{{cite web|title=Central Statistics Office|url=https://data.cso.ie}}</ref> and Iceland;<ref>{{cite web|title=Fertility and reproduction rates 1853-2020|url=https://px.hagstofa.is/pxen/pxweb/en/Ibuar/Ibuar__Faeddirdanir__faeddir__faedingar/MAN05202.px|website=[[Statistics Iceland]]}}</ref> the bump in Sweden was largely due to improving economic output and the generous, far-reaching family benefits granted by the Nordic welfare system,<ref>{{cite web|title=Why does Sweden have such high fertility?|url=https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol13/22/13-22.pdf|website=[[Demographic Research (journal)|Demographic research]]}}</ref> while in France it was mostly driven by older women realizing their dreams of motherhood. For Sweden, the increase in the fertility rate came with a rise in the birth rate (going from 11.7 in 1980 to 14.5 in 1990),<ref name="auto9">{{cite web|title=Summary of Population Statistics 1960-2020|url=https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/population/population-composition/population-statistics/pong/tables-and-graphs/yearly-statistics--the-whole-country/summary-of-population-statistics/#Fotnoter|website=Statistics Sweden}}</ref> which slowed down and then stopped for a brief period to the aging of the Swedish population<ref>{{cite web|title=Average age and median age in sweden by sex. Year 1968 - 2020|url=https://www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se/pxweb/en/ssd/START__BE__BE0101__BE0101B/BefolkMedianAlder/|website=Statistics Sweden}}</ref> caused by the decline in birth rates in the late 1970s and early 1980s. To this day, France and Sweden still have higher fertility rates than most of Europe, and both almost reached replacement level in 2010 (2.03<ref>{{cite web|title=Demographic balance sheet 2019|url=https://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/2382605?sommaire=2382613|website=[[Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques]]}}</ref> and 1.98<ref name="auto9"/> respectively).

At first, falling fertility is due to urbanization and decreased [[infant mortality]] rates, which diminished the benefits and increased the costs of raising children. In other words, it became more economically sensible to invest more in fewer children, as economist [[Gary Becker]] argued. (This is the first demographic transition.) Falling fertility then came from attitudinal shifts. By the 1960s, people began moving from traditional and communal values towards more expressive and individualistic outlooks due to access to and aspiration of higher education, and to the spread of lifestyle values once practiced only by a tiny minority of cultural elites. (This is the [[Demographic transition#Second demographic transition|second demographic transition]].) Although the momentous cultural changes of the 1960s leveled off by the 1990s, the social and cultural environment of the very late twentieth-century was quite different from that of the 1950s. Such changes in values have had a major effect on fertility. Member states of the [[European Economic Community]] saw a steady increase in not just divorce and out-of-wedlock births between 1960 and 1985 but also falling fertility rates. In 1981, a survey of countries across the [[Developed country|industrialized world]] found that while more than half of people aged 65 and over thought that women needed children to be fulfilled, only 35% of those between the ages of 15 and 24 (younger Baby Boomers and older Generation X) agreed.<ref name="Kaufmann-2013">{{Cite book|title=Whither the Child? Causes and Consequences of Low Fertility|last=Kaufmann|first=Eric|publisher=Paradigm Publishers|year=2013|isbn=978-1-61205-093-5|editor-last=Kaufmann|editor-first=Eric|location=Boulder, Colorado, United States|pages=135–56|chapter=Chapter 7: Sacralization by Stealth? The Religious Consequences of Low Fertility in Europe|editor-last2=Wilcox|editor-first2=W. Bradford}}</ref> In the early 1980s, East Germany, West Germany, Denmark, and the [[Channel Islands]] had some of the world's lowest fertility rates.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/06/29/why-germanys-birth-rate-is-rising-and-italys-isnt|title=Why Germany's birth rate is rising and Italy's isn't|date=29 June 2019|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=8 February 2020|department=Europe}}</ref>
[[File:Зрители лектория Cosmos на Geek Picnic 2018 SPb.jpg|thumb|Russian young adults at the [[Geek Picnic]] in Saint Petersburg (2018)]]
At the start of the twenty-first century, Europe suffers from an [[Population ageing|aging population]]. This problem is especially acute in Eastern Europe, whereas in Western Europe, it is alleviated by international immigration. In addition, an increasing number of children born in Europe has been born to non-European parents. Because children of immigrants in Europe tend to be about as religious as they are, this could slow the decline of religion (or the growth of [[secularism]]) in the continent as the twenty-first century progresses.<ref name="Kaufmann-2010">{{Cite journal|last=Kaufmann|first=Eric|author-link=Eric Kaufmann|date=Winter 2010|title=Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=99|issue=396, the future of religion|pages=387–94|jstor=27896504}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the number of foreign-born residents stood at 6% of the population in 1991. Immigration subsequently surged and has not fallen since (as of 2018). Research by the demographers and political scientists [[Eric Kaufmann]], [[Roger Eatwell]], and [[Matthew Goodwin]] suggest that such a fast ethno-demographic change is one of the key reasons behind public backlash in the form of [[Right-wing populism|national populism]] across the rich liberal democracies, an example of which is the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]] (Brexit).<ref name="TheEconomist-2018b">{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2018/11/03/two-new-books-explain-the-brexit-revolt|title=Two new books explain the Brexit revolt|date=3 November 2018|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=21 December 2019|department=Britain}}</ref>

Italy is a country where the problem of an aging population is especially acute. The fertility rate dropped from about four in the 1960s down to 1.2 in the 2010s. This is not because young Italians do not want to procreate. Quite the contrary, having many children is an Italian ideal. But its economy has been floundering since the [[Great Recession]] of 2007–08, with the [[youth unemployment]] rate at a staggering 35% in 2019. Many Italians have moved abroad—150,000 did in 2018—and many are young people pursuing educational and economic opportunities. With the plunge in the number of births each year, the Italian population is expected to decline in the next five years. Moreover, the Baby Boomers are retiring in large numbers, and their numbers eclipse those of the young people taking care of them. Only Japan has an age structure more tilted towards the elderly.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-italy-rising-anxiety-over-falling-birth-rates|title=In Italy, rising anxiety over falling birth rates|last=Livesay|first=Christopher|date=25 November 2019|work=PBS Newshour|access-date=21 December 2019}}</ref>

Greece also suffers from a serious demographic problem as many young people are leaving the country in search of better opportunities elsewhere in the wake of the Great Recession. This [[Human capital flight|brain drain]] and a rapidly aging population could spell disaster for the country.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/brain-drain-and-declining-birth-rate-threaten-the-future-of-greece|title=Brain drain and declining birth rate threaten the future of Greece|last=Brabant|first=Malcolm|date=13 November 2017|work=PBS Newshour|access-date=21 December 2019}}</ref>

Overall, E.U. demographic data shows that the number of people aged 18 to 33 in 2014 was 24% of the population, with a high of 28% for Poland and a low of 19% for Italy.<ref name="Stokes-2015">{{Cite web|last=Stokes|first=Bruce|date=9 February 2015|title=Who are Europe's Millennials?|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/09/who-are-europes-millennials/|access-date=10 November 2020|website=Pew Research Center}}</ref>

As a result of the shocks due to the decline and [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], Russia's birth rates began falling in the late 1980s while death rates have risen, especially among men.<ref name="Grammaticas-2004">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3984951.stm|title=Life ebbs away from Russian villages|last=Grammaticas|first=Damian|date=4 November 2004|work=BBC News|access-date=22 December 2019|department=Europe}}</ref> In the early 2000s, Russia had not only a falling birth rate but also a declining population despite having an improving economy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4125072.stm|title=Russia's population falling fast|last=Eke|first=Stephen|date=23 June 2005|work=BBC News|access-date=22 December 2019|department=Europe}}</ref> Between 1992 and 2002, Russia's population dropped from 149&nbsp;million to 144&nbsp;million. According to the "medium case scenario" of the U.N.'s Population Division, Russia could lose another 20&nbsp;million people by the 2020s.<ref name="Grammaticas-2004" />

Europe's demographic reality contributes to its economic troubles. Because the European baby boomers failed to replace themselves, by the 2020s and 2030s, dozens of European nations will find their situation even tougher than before.<ref name="Zeihan-2016" />

<gallery class="center" widths="300" heights="209" mode="packed" caption="Population pyramids of Italy, Greece, and Russia in 2016">
File:Population pyramid of Italy 2016.png
File:Population pyramid of Greece 2016.png
File:Population pyramid of Russia 2016.png
</gallery>