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NEWS ÜVERVIEW
Understandi World Events and Trends
Western
Europe's
Population
lmplosion
B
Y the year 2020, West
Germany will have a
population of 49.9 million,
down from its present 61
million. West Germany's
shrinking population is par!
of an overall Western
European pattern.
The reason for the
declining fertility rate is
economic: Most Western
Europeans would rather
pursue a career or acquire
more material possessions
than have more chi ldren.
A fertility rate of 2.1 (an
average of 2. 1 children a
family) is needed lo replace
one generation with another.
Western Europe has a
Population Growth
Populatíon Populatíon
EStímate EStímate
ln
in
Millions
Millions Fertílíty
(Mid-1985)
(2020) Rate*
Western Europe
341.4
336.8
L8
Bclgium
9.9
9.2
1.6
Denmark
5, 1
4.6
1.4
Francc
55.0
51.5
1.8
Germas>y (West)
6) .0
49.9
1.3
Gre«:c
10. 1
11.6
2. 1
lccland
0.2
0.3
2.2
l relas>d
3.6
5.8
3.0
ltaly
57.4
54.8
1.6
Luxembourg
0.4
0.3
1.6
Netherland1
14.5
14.0
1.5
Norway
4.2
4.1
1.7
Portugal
10.3
12.1
2.0
Spain
38.5
43.4
2.0
Sweden
8.3
7.4
1.6
Switurland
6.5
5.9
1.6
United Kingdom
56.4
55.9
1.8
ralc
is
avcrau number of children born to each womas> betwccn
lhe a¡cs
or
15
and
49, lf
~eh
woman were 10 live through her child-bearing years.
Protecting
lnfants' Eyes
l
ntense lights in hospital
nurseries may lead to
impaired vision in premature
infants, according lo medica!
researchers.
Exposure lo too much
oxygen has long been
March
1986
considered a cause of
retinopathy of prematurity
(ROP). which impairs vision,
but nursery lights have now
been linked with the
condition. Nursery lights are
at least five times brighter
now !han they were 20
years ago.
In a study of 228
premature babies, 154 were
fertil ity rate of only 1.8 as a
whole. Concerns for the
future include aging
populations, fewer
conscripts for the military
and a tough choice between
greater tax burdens or fewer
social services.
Many Western European
nations are hoping financia!
incentives will encourage
parents to have more
children. Already France
offers couples about
US$200 a month for up to a
year to encourage parents
lo have a third child.
Chancellor Helmut Kohl's
~
government in West
:;; Germany wants to raise the
i
income-tax exemption leve!
~
for children, and allow either
~
paren! lo leave work for up
a:
to 1
O
months and receive a
g
monthly subsidy of 400
~
marks (about US$190) along
!
with a guarantee of getting
one's job back.
~
So critica! is the issue that
:.: Horst Waffenschmidt , West
1
German Parliamentary
*
Secretary in the Ministry of
~
Interior, has called upon his
~
nation to again become a
g
society that wants
li:
children. •
protected from direct light
with a filler similar to that
used in sunglasses. The
other 74 were exposed lo
normal lighting. The
incidence of ROP was
highest in babies weighing
the least. In the unprotected
group, 86 percent of babies
with the lowest birth weights
developed ROP, as opposed
MoreAbout
Halley
F
amous for calculating the
orbit of the comet that
bears his name, Edmund
Halley ( 1656-1742) was also
elected to England's Royal
Society at age 23.
Halley strongly supported
the publication of Sir Isaac
Newton's
Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia
Mathematica
in 1687. Many
consider this the greatest
work on physics ever
produced.
Named Astronomer Royal,
Halley published more than
80 scientific papers. •
lo 54 percent of babies of
identical birth weight in the
protected group.
The only significan!
difference in the treatment
of the protected and
unprotected groups was the
light intensity. Adequate
lighting is necessary in
hospital nurseries, but how
intense must lights be? •
27