Today demography is not just one cause of many; it is our most important common cause.

In her welcome speech opening the 3rd Budapest Demographic Summit, Katalin Novák, Minister of State for Family and Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Human Capacities said our answers to demographic challenges determine our future, equally culturally, economically and socially.

Today children are not being born in sufficient numbers anywhere in the West, Europe has become a continent of “empty cradles,” while the countries of Africa and Asia are struggling with the challenges posed by their population growth, the Minister of State said.

At the international demographic conference held for the third time this year, attendees are attempting to find not necessarily identical answers to their not necessarily identical demographic challenges, and to share their experiences, Mrs Novák added.

(MTI)