Some European countries, including Italy, currently have small population decreases, but that is of little consequence. Europe is not where the action is in world demographics, and those that cite those numbers are ignoring over 95 percent of expected population changes. Understanding population momentum is central to understanding population growth. When a nation has an age structure composed of many children, relatively few adults, and very few elderly, which is common, its population will continue to grow for at least 50 years even if, starting today, the average couple has only two children. If you are driving 100 miles per hour and take your foot off the accelerator, you don't suddenly stop, because of the momentum.
Population momentum is similar to that.
Just think about the ever more crowded schools we have, or the increasing traffic congestion that we get caught in, or the spreading monster of suburban sprawl that gobbles up our open spaces and farmland. One challenge we face is the empowerment of women. Of the 960 million illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women. In poor countries, every additional year of a woman's education results in a 5 to 10 percent decline in infant mortality, which can result in smaller families. If a couple has seven children so three will live past age 5, nearly all of us find that deplorable.