Since we’re looking at European studies on infertility . . .Women in Germany are complaining because they have to choose between work and family. This is due largely in part to Germany’s social tax structure that penalizes families with working mothers. Germany has declining birthrates along with many countries in Europe. However, Sweden, where families with two working parents are the norm, has one of the highest birth rates in Europe. In fact, the western European countries with the highest fertility rates have working mothers.
Germany also has a social bias against working mothers that, loosely translated, means “Bad mothers.” It stigmatizes working mothers and is often a great barrier for highly educated women who have kids and want to re-enter the workforce. To counteract this bias and to increase Germany’s birthrate, Ursula Fondelien, Germany’s new Family Minister (a mother of 7, by the way) has proposed several initiatives to encourage mothers to return to work and raise families. She wants to make sure “mothers and father share equal responsibility.”
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