European countries fear that their “demographic winter” will grow icier still as a result of a slump in births linked to the pandemic.
The fall has been particularly acute in southern Europe, raising concerns for health and pension systems that were already under pressure.
The figures emerging refute widespread claims in the European media that a baby boom would follow the lockdowns, on the basis that couples were forced to spend time together with limited leisure activities.
In practice, the opposite has happened, with couples postponing plans to have children amid anguish over an uncertain future.
In January in France — nine months after its first lockdown — the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies registered only 53,900 births, a fall of 13
