Birth dearth: Policy makers are now throwing money at families in a bid to stem the birth dearth and encourage citizens to have more babies. But experts say it is not working . Germany is battling a baby drought that has caused its population to plummet, leaving a rash of vacant homes, dry sewers and fears the economy may crumble, experts have warned. In its most recent census, Germany discovered it had lost 1.5 million inhabitants and, by 2060, experts say the population could dwindle by an extra 19 per cent, to about 66 million. Between 2000 and 2013, Germany's . birth rate dropped by 11 per cent compared to rises in the UK (4.3 per . cent), France (3.6 per cent), Spain (12.8 per cent) and Ireland (8.9 per cent). Now panic is beginning to spread through Europe's economic powerhouse as the financial crisis continues to stretch its tentacles into all aspects of society, especially the country's labour market. Adding to the country's woes, a recent study by Europe's Population Policy Acceptance Study found that 23 per cent of German men thought 'zero' was the ideal family size. 'In some areas, there are now abundant overgrown yards, boarded-up . windows and concerns about sewage systems too empty to work properly,' reports the New York Times. 'The work force is rapidly graying, and assembly lines are being . redesigned to minimize bending and lifting.' Policy makers are now throwing money at families in a bid to stem the birth dearth and encourage citizens to have more babies. But despite spending $265 billion a year on family subsidies, experts say the government is not doing enough claiming Germany needs an overhaul of values, customs and attitudes. According to the New York Times Germany has for many decades had a fraught relationship with immigration. To make matters worse, attitudes to working mothers remains unsympathetic in Germany where women who juggle jobs with children are commonly referred to pejoratively as 'raven mothers', implying neglectfulness. Experts are now claiming Germany needs to find ways of keeping older workers in jobs for longer and make itself more appealing to immigrants, who, they say, tend to find other European nations far more hospitable destinations. It also needs to feed more women into the workforce while, at the same time, encourage them to have more babies. 'If you look closely at the numbers, what you see is the higher the gender equality, the higher the birthrate,' Reiner Klingholz of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development told the New York Times. Keep working: Experts are now claiming Germany needs to find ways of keeping older workers in jobs for longer as fears grow for the country's workforce . But, he added, Germany has long subsidised families of a traditional set up, making change all the more difficult. 'Touching those is political suicide,' Michaela Kreyenfeld of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research told the paper. 'Women are perfectly integrated within Germany's labor market but when it comes to babies, everyone expects a mother to stay at home and take care of the children,' she told reuters last year. 'This of course deters women from becoming mothers.' Last year it emerged the number of births in Germany fell to a post-war low despite a raft of government incentives meant to reverse a population decline. 'Raven mother': Attitudes to working mothers remains unsympathetic in Germany where women who juggle jobs with children are commonly referred to pejoratively as 'raven mothers', implying neglectfulness . A third of all babies born in Germany, still the EU's most populous member state, came from immigrant families, the analysts said, noting that without them the overall figure would have been much lower. The preliminary data released by Germany's Federal Statistics Office showed 663,000 children were born in 2011, down from 678,000 in 2010. How Germany's birth rate compares to Europe (between 2000 and 2013): . 'As in every year since 1972, the number of people who died was greater than the number of children born. In 2011 the difference amounted to 190,000 people and in 2010 to 181,000,' the office said in a report. Demography experts have forecast that Germany's population could shrink to about 50 million by 2050, based on current trends, and say France and Britain - which now have about 60 million each - could overtake it later this century. Germany's birthrate peaked in 1964 when a total of 1,357,304 children were born in the capitalist West and communist East. West Germans were already having fewer children in the 1970s because of improving conditions for women and their easier access to education, said Reiner Klingholz, director of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development. 'So fewer children were born then, meaning that today we lack potential parents for potential children," he said.Without immigrant families, the number of newly born children in Germany would reach only 400,000 in a country of 82 million, Klingholz said. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has no children herself, introduced relatively generous child benefit payments in 2006, making it easier for women to return to the workplace after having children.In June 2012, however, in a move critics say entrenches a more traditionalist view of women's roles, Merkel's coalition also approved a bill on childcare payments that would give parents an allowance to keep their toddlers at home rather than sending them to nursery.
Germany lost 1.5 million inhabitants in its most recent census .
The population is predicted to fall by 19 per cent to 66 million by 2060 .
Policy makers are throwing money at families in bid to stem the birth dearth .
Experts say it needs to welcome immigrants and encourage mums to work .
Germany's birth rate has fallen by 11% since 2000, while UK rose by 4.1% .
Birth dearth: Policy makers are now throwing money at families in a bid to stem the birth dearth and encourage citizens to have more babies. But experts say it is not working . Germany is battling a baby drought that has caused its population to plummet, leaving a rash of vacant homes, dry sewers and fears the economy may crumble, experts have warned. In its most recent census, Germany discovered it had lost 1.5 million inhabitants and, by 2060, experts say the population could dwindle by an extra 19 per cent, to about 66 million. Between 2000 and 2013, Germany's . birth rate dropped by 11 per cent compared to rises in the UK (4.3 per . cent), France (3.6 per cent), Spain (12.8 per cent) and Ireland (8.9 per cent). Now panic is beginning to spread through Europe's economic powerhouse as the financial crisis continues to stretch its tentacles into all aspects of society, especially the country's labour market. Adding to the country's woes, a recent study by Europe's Population Policy Acceptance Study found that 23 per cent of German men thought 'zero' was the ideal family size. 'In some areas, there are now abundant overgrown yards, boarded-up . windows and concerns about sewage systems too empty to work properly,' reports the New York Times. 'The work force is rapidly graying, and assembly lines are being . redesigned to minimize bending and lifting.' Policy makers are now throwing money at families in a bid to stem the birth dearth and encourage citizens to have more babies. But despite spending $265 billion a year on family subsidies, experts say the government is not doing enough claiming Germany needs an overhaul of values, customs and attitudes. According to the New York Times Germany has for many decades had a fraught relationship with immigration. To make matters worse, attitudes to working mothers remains unsympathetic in Germany where women who juggle jobs with children are commonly referred to pejoratively as 'raven mothers', implying neglectfulness. Experts are now claiming Germany needs to find ways of keeping older workers in jobs for longer and make itself more appealing to immigrants, who, they say, tend to find other European nations far more hospitable destinations. It also needs to feed more women into the workforce while, at the same time, encourage them to have more babies. 'If you look closely at the numbers, what you see is the higher the gender equality, the higher the birthrate,' Reiner Klingholz of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development told the New York Times. Keep working: Experts are now claiming Germany needs to find ways of keeping older workers in jobs for longer as fears grow for the country's workforce . But, he added, Germany has long subsidised families of a traditional set up, making change all the more difficult. 'Touching those is political suicide,' Michaela Kreyenfeld of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research told the paper. 'Women are perfectly integrated within Germany's labor market but when it comes to babies, everyone expects a mother to stay at home and take care of the children,' she told reuters last year. 'This of course deters women from becoming mothers.' Last year it emerged the number of births in Germany fell to a post-war low despite a raft of government incentives meant to reverse a population decline. 'Raven mother': Attitudes to working mothers remains unsympathetic in Germany where women who juggle jobs with children are commonly referred to pejoratively as 'raven mothers', implying neglectfulness . A third of all babies born in Germany, still the EU's most populous member state, came from immigrant families, the analysts said, noting that without them the overall figure would have been much lower. The preliminary data released by Germany's Federal Statistics Office showed 663,000 children were born in 2011, down from 678,000 in 2010. How Germany's birth rate compares to Europe (between 2000 and 2013): . 'As in every year since 1972, the number of people who died was greater than the number of children born. In 2011 the difference amounted to 190,000 people and in 2010 to 181,000,' the office said in a report. Demography experts have forecast that Germany's population could shrink to about 50 million by 2050, based on current trends, and say France and Britain - which now have about 60 million each - could overtake it later this century. Germany's birthrate peaked in 1964 when a total of 1,357,304 children were born in the capitalist West and communist East. West Germans were already having fewer children in the 1970s because of improving conditions for women and their easier access to education, said Reiner Klingholz, director of the Berlin Institute for Population and Development. 'So fewer children were born then, meaning that today we lack potential parents for potential children," he said.Without immigrant families, the number of newly born children in Germany would reach only 400,000 in a country of 82 million, Klingholz said. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has no children herself, introduced relatively generous child benefit payments in 2006, making it easier for women to return to the workplace after having children.In June 2012, however, in a move critics say entrenches a more traditionalist view of women's roles, Merkel's coalition also approved a bill on childcare payments that would give parents an allowance to keep their toddlers at home rather than sending them to nursery.
at families in a bid to stem the birth dearth and crumble, experts have warned. In its most recent census, Germany discovered it had lost 1.5 million inhabitants and, by 2060, experts say the to about 66 million. Between 2000 and 2013, Germany's . birth rate dropped by 11 per cent lifting.' Policy makers are now throwing money at