Eh, no. I don't think I said it was a problem in Ireland. If I did convey this, sorry.
Demographic problems not only take decades to crystallise but can also be seen approaching decades in advance. So they can be evident without necessarily being pressing. I made my original comments in response to the assertion that it is not appropriate for a society to 'subsidise' children, to which I made the corollary point that it therefore follows that it is not appropriate to ask those children ( in the future) to subsidise today's taxpayers\tomorrow's pensioners. Of course, we in Ireland will continue to subsidise both children and pensioners-that is the way we do things; and we have enought children coming through to be able to continue this model for at least another generation; but we can already see countries where the changing demographic is a strong warning of choppy seas ahead. Italy and France come to mind.
Demographic problems not only take decades to crystallise but can also be seen approaching decades in advance. So they can be evident without necessarily being pressing. I made my original comments in response to the assertion that it is not appropriate for a society to 'subsidise' children, to which I made the corollary point that it therefore follows that it is not appropriate to ask those children ( in the future) to subsidise today's taxpayers\tomorrow's pensioners. Of course, we in Ireland will continue to subsidise both children and pensioners-that is the way we do things; and we have enought children coming through to be able to continue this model for at least another generation; but we can already see countries where the changing demographic is a strong warning of choppy seas ahead. Italy and France come to mind.