Life Lines: Navigating Demographic Shifts

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.

The summer edition will officially launch on 10 June, but some of the articles are already available online (see below). You can also subscribe to the Green European Journal for 8 or 14 euros per year to support us and have two print editions delivered straight to your door.

Articles in this edition

07.05.2026

Social Media Bans for Minors: Cure or Stopgap?

By Celia Fernández

A growing number of countries are pushing to ban children from social media as the harmful effects of these platforms become undeniable.

12.05.2026

The Value of a Mother

By Emma Holten, Green European Journal

Demographic decline is exposing a fundamental blind spot in modern economics: its inability to recognise the value of care.

21.05.2026

The Childist Case for Ageless Suffrage

By John Wall

Although they are a third of the global population and impacted equally or increasingly by crises, children remain nearly invisible in democratic policymaking.

26.05.2026

“Grey Power”: Does the Future Belong to the Old?

By Ben Wray

While generations are not monolithic blocs, age is becoming an increasingly reliable predictor of how Europeans vote. As older cohorts grow in number and pull public spending towards their own needs, the gap between what the old have and what the young need is widening – leading some to warn that Europe is bound for an unavoidable clash of generations.