Recession and Fertility Rates

Conventional wisdom is that prolonged stress can influence fertility. A recent blurb in the Harvard Business Review reported that as the European Economy lags there has been a corresponding decline in fertility rates. Fifteen of 22 European Union countries have shown a fertility decline since the financial crisis started in 2008.  According to the Wall Street Journal, this is in sharp contrast with increased fertility rates in 19 of the countries for the three years prior to the financial crisis. Supposedly, for a country's population to remain stable,  a 2.1 fertility rate needs to be maintained.