Just as one might be inclined to thinkthat every thing about demographic change has been already said and heard, a new dimension opens up. In fact, this is what makes the topic so fascinating. There is nothing trivial any longer about children, families, age, and care. Europe is undergoing profound demo graphic change. Each generation of children is quantitatively smaller than that of their parents; the propor tion of children and adolescents among the population is becoming smaller and smaller, while that of the elde rlyi s growing inexorably. Fewer and fewer people are marrying; more and...

Just as one might be inclined to thinkthat every thing about demographic change has been already said and heard, a new dimension opens up. In fact, this is what makes the topic so fascinating. There is nothing trivial any longer about children, families, age, and care. Europe is undergoing profound demo graphic change. Each generation of children is quantitatively smaller than that of their parents; the propor tion of children and adolescents among the population is becoming smaller and smaller, while that of the elde rlyi s growing inexorably. Fewer and fewer people are marrying; more and...