The ‘Beanpole Family’: Cultural Aspects of ‘the Demographic Crisis’ in Greece

Abstract

Falling birth rates, increased longevity, delayed inheritance, and the increased need for provision of eldercare for seniors, are well-known phenomena throughout Europe. The specific cultural aspects of these phenomena, which produce different kinds of situations in particular countries, have been less explored. The paper looks at the so-called ‘demographic crisis’ in Greece, as the falling birth rate has been labelled, with regard to practices that link the naming of children to the inheritance of property, and with particular reference to a Cycladic island.