As Europe’s birthrates fall and populations age, panic about overpopulation has given way to the fear of demographic decline. Indeed, with falling birth rates and longer lives, Europe is ageing rapidly. Can societies guarantee wellbeing as the labour force shrinks and fiscal pressures mount? And as older cohorts outnumber the young, is intergenerational conflict inevitable?

Adjusting to the new reality requires that we pivot our entire social and economic model away from productivity and growth, and towards care for one another and for the planet.