Demographic shocking elements: Six funerals in a month … no marriage in 25 years

Theodoris Paslis, commenting on what are the ideal conditions to make a family, says that the finance is a key factor. He does not even hesitate to say that if his partner pressed him to have a child, he would prefer to spoil the relationship.

At the same time, farmer Costas Sakellariou has to go to a wedding in the village where she lives “many years”. “I have to see a bride in the village for 40 years,” he says.

Shock the items

The decline in the population of Greece in recent years has appeared irreversible and even with intensification tendencies. This new reality, however, is dramatically reflected in a recent recording of the United Nations Population Directorate for the years 2022-2023. According to this, our country takes third place in the rhythm of population, behind only three years of war, and the island complex of Tuvalu, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which is endangered by climate crisis.

ELSTAT President Athanasios Thanopoulos reports that between the last two censuses there is a decrease in the country’s permanent population by 3.1%.

Greece – as it all shows – is changing a face – and becomes more… mature, as only 13.1% of the population belongs to the 0–14 age category. At the same time, the trunk of society, people who are productive, that is, shrink to 63.6%. On the other hand, the elderly grow up with 23.3% of the population – that is, one in four – to exceed 65 years. Is it obvious that Greece is getting old, but it can be reborn?

Ornela Kapai, who is mother, characterizes the motherhood a magical journey. Nevertheless, it has many difficulties in the requirements of a child. He wants to have other kids. But he asks for support. And by the state.

The story of each generation begins with a birth. And every birth is a reflection of the conditions of each era. Have the ages, conditions, conditions “of parents changed? And how does a gynecologist experience this in practice, in childbirth halls?

Panagiotis Psathas, a gynecologist, a dedicated assisted reproduction physician, confuses that what he is listening to most often by women about having a child is “we have no help”. He also states that most women choose to have children at an older age. Most pregnant women, about 75%, are from 35 to 40 years.

Social pressures and the culture of young people

For a few weeks, the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family, Domna Michaelidou, holds her first child in her arms. The personal experience she has now gained as a young mother gives Maria Vousoula yet another good reason to discuss with her the major issue of demographic – which also falls into her portfolio.

The minister became a mother at 37. And as she says, in her case, the reason she became a mother at this age is culture and social pressure, “who tells you, my girl, only when you find someone who covers you perfectly, as a companion, as a wife, you will say, I start a family. Find the right one.”

At the same time, Ms Michaelidou says that young people have in mind to have a family … but they are postponing it. That is, the young man up to 35 years old thinks he wants to have experiences. He thinks he prefers to go on a trip for example.

Six funerals in a month .. no marriage in 25 years

Kryoneri Karditsa reflects the demographic crisis of the whole country.

The 82 -year -old Mr. Basil has lived all his life there. People began to leave the village after 1967 because there were no jobs. “They wanted to go to a larger city. Especially the girls from here, from the villages, everything wanted to leave, to go down.”

Father Seraphim reveals that he has been marriage for 25 years. And baptisms. He once made 10 weddings a year and about 15 baptisms. Now, only funerals … six funerals in a month …

Mr. Vasilis expresses his complaint: we stayed ten older ones. We would like a lot of voices here, lots of little kids running up and down …

By 30-35 little kids, just four

I started with 30-35 kids and at the moment we have only three and one missing child today, four says Vassilis Papoutsis, Head of Kryoneri School Unit. Of the only school in the area of ​​Lake Plastira Municipality.

“Our goal is not to close school. That is, to paraphrase Victor Hugo who says that when a school opens, a prison closes. Not to happen.” says Mr. Papoutsis.

In Neochori, elementary school has been closed for many years. It was a two -seater school and at the moment it only operates as a cultural center. In the area there was another five -seater elementary school, which is also closed. Children, left in the area, go to school in Kryoneri Karditsa.

Program to get the world back

As Panagiotis Nanos, Mayor of Lake Plastira, says, “is not that only the elderly were left here. It is that the villages lost their identity.”

In 2021, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the revolution of 1821, the municipality decided to make a “peaceful revolution”, inviting the heterodimers to return. “The return program to the homeland aims to come either as pensioners with their grandchildren, people who left young children and made their lives in urban centers or to come young people, grandchildren, that is, children and grandchildren of the first immigrants, to reside in the villages and to reside in the villages and their grandparents. To other people who would like to live in Lake Plastira.

Mayor gives 1,000 euros per child

However, there are also municipalities that, it seems, have put the demographic very high on their agenda. The most striking example is the Municipality of Prossotsani, in Drama, where in recent years the citizens who have a child are subsidized for 1,000 euros, as Mayor Theodoros Athanasiadis says.

From the lowest in Europe the fertility index

The fertility index measures the average number of children a woman gives birth to during her lifetime. To renew the population of course, without immigration, the index must be about 2.1 children per woman. The fertility index currently in Greece is in 1.3 children/woman and remains one of the lowest in Europe.

According to Byron Kotzamanis, Director of Demographic Research and Studies Institute, the child in our country costs around 10,000. Therefore, for two children one should have a high income.

Something … changes in the village of Fourna

In mountainous Evritania, the village of Fourna, sees its inhabitants year after year. As is the case in several villages in Greece … But something seems to be changing. The first large families have already settled in the village and left behind the anxiety of the city.

Through the dynamic initiative of educator Yiotas Diamantis and priest Constantine Dousikou, the mountain village of Evritania opened its doors to new families, offering work to parents and free roofs, with the aim of Fournas – who once had 1,500 inhabitants.

Eventually Greece’s course to the demographic cliff can be reversed? The answer is, yes – it is enough to take immediate action that will primarily defeat the fear of young people who want to create a family, ensuring security conditions at a professional, economic and psychological level. After all, let’s not forget that today’s 30s and 40s still bear the trauma of uncertainty – bequest of a deep economic and social crisis that they were called upon to face at the dawn of their adult life. And if the image of the densely populated urban centers often disorientates us, we must remember that Greece is not just the big cities. They are also the towns of the unemployed, they are the villages that erase the lack of opportunities and infrastructure…

This silent crisis seeks urgent answers. Demographic is a national problem with long -term consequences, which requires strategic treatment, but mainly requires that young people’s confidence in their ability to create in Greece.