Jelly
10-02-2005, 10:14 AM
Maybe they should just let in more immigrants...
France pays to boost birth rate
Friday, September 23, 2005; Posted: 11:08 a.m. EDT (15:08 GMT)
Manage Alerts | What Is This? PARIS, France (Reuters) -- France will give more money to families with three children in an effort to encourage the French to have more babies, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Thursday.
A parent who puts his job on hold to raise a third child will receive 750 euros ($915.6) per month for one year, around 50 percent more than the monthly amount families with two children receive for a three-year period, Villepin said.
Shortening the time period but increasing the sum aims to help mothers get back into their job quicker after giving birth, and prevent them from suffering career disadvantages, government sources have said.
"The birth rate is still insufficient in our country," Villepin said at a national conference on families.
"If the number of families with three children doubled, the replacement of generations would be assured," he said, adding the new measure would cost 140 million euros per year.
France, which already has a generous child care system in place, has a birth rate of 1.9 children per woman -- well above the EU average of around 1.5. In countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany and Poland, the rate is as low as 1.3, data shows.
Villepin also said France would create 15,000 new creche places, double tax credits for some child care costs and improve financial conditions for parents looking after a sick child.
"The measures will allow us to advance in two directions," Villepin said. "To give the French the possibility to have as many children as they want, and to support parents in better protecting their children against society's new threats."
With unemployment at close to 10 percent and high oil prices weighing on consumers, France's conservative government has come under pressure to do more for cash-strapped households.
But France is also under pressure from Brussels to cut its public deficit to below the European Union's limit of three percent of gross domestic product.
Paris has broken the limit every year since 2002, and has told the European Commission its deficit would come in at 3 pct of GDP this year.
France pays to boost birth rate
Friday, September 23, 2005; Posted: 11:08 a.m. EDT (15:08 GMT)
Manage Alerts | What Is This? PARIS, France (Reuters) -- France will give more money to families with three children in an effort to encourage the French to have more babies, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Thursday.
A parent who puts his job on hold to raise a third child will receive 750 euros ($915.6) per month for one year, around 50 percent more than the monthly amount families with two children receive for a three-year period, Villepin said.
Shortening the time period but increasing the sum aims to help mothers get back into their job quicker after giving birth, and prevent them from suffering career disadvantages, government sources have said.
"The birth rate is still insufficient in our country," Villepin said at a national conference on families.
"If the number of families with three children doubled, the replacement of generations would be assured," he said, adding the new measure would cost 140 million euros per year.
France, which already has a generous child care system in place, has a birth rate of 1.9 children per woman -- well above the EU average of around 1.5. In countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany and Poland, the rate is as low as 1.3, data shows.
Villepin also said France would create 15,000 new creche places, double tax credits for some child care costs and improve financial conditions for parents looking after a sick child.
"The measures will allow us to advance in two directions," Villepin said. "To give the French the possibility to have as many children as they want, and to support parents in better protecting their children against society's new threats."
With unemployment at close to 10 percent and high oil prices weighing on consumers, France's conservative government has come under pressure to do more for cash-strapped households.
But France is also under pressure from Brussels to cut its public deficit to below the European Union's limit of three percent of gross domestic product.
Paris has broken the limit every year since 2002, and has told the European Commission its deficit would come in at 3 pct of GDP this year.