The New Generations of Europeans

Demography and Families in the Enlarged European Union

Europe today is characterized by aging populations, changing family patterns, dropping fertility rates and mass migration. With the potentially massive ramifications this has for pensions, health, housing, transport, family relations, employment and other sectors of society, The New Generations of Europeans sets out to assess what it is to be a citizen of a growing EU and what important demographic, social, and economic issues will have to be faced by European decision makers. Edited by leading demographers and sociologists, and made up of contributions from respected researchers in the fields of population and society from different parts of Europe, it presents the results of five years of research by the European Observatory on the Social Situation, Demography and the Family. With the aid of over 100 graphs and tables and a full discussion, this book asks how numerous, fertile and long-lived the new generations of European citizens will be. The state of families, immigration and health are all examined, especially in the context of the challenges that will be faced in maintaining social cohesion. Crucially, the question of how demographic changes will impact Europe's socioeconomic infrastructure is woven throughout.