FERTILITY RATE
In Europe 2.1 children per woman is considered to be the population replacement level. These are national averages
Ireland: 1.99
France: 1.90
Norway: 1.81
Sweden 1.75
UK: 1.74
Netherlands: 1.73
Germany: 1.37
Italy: 1.33
Spain: 1.32
Greece: 1.29
Source: Eurostat - 2004 figures
. . .
According to recent government figures, France's population should reach 75 million (from 62 million today) by the middle of the century, in the process overtaking Germany - whose numbers the UN says will fall from 82 million to 70.8 million in 2050.
. . .
Until now, there has been a pay-out of £345 a month for mothers (or occasionally
fathers) to take time off for up to three years for a third child. Under the new measures they have the option of taking a bigger pay-out of £508 for just one
year - the idea being to win over women who were reluctant for financial or professional reasons to stop work.
On top of that, tax-credit for hiring child-minders is being doubled, and the carte famille nombreuse is being extended to cover museum entrance fees and other leisure activities. "
Even Germany and Russia, who are scrambling to introduce pay-to-breed schemes, thinks it's just plain silly to make more French people. Just kidding.
At least for once I'm glad to be an American.
1 comment:
Yes, because what the French need is a higher population, to overcome the record low unemployment over there.
It's pretty much nationalism, pure and simple.
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