Madrid, Spain, Jan 17, 2007 / 09:13 am
The Institute for Family Policy (IFP) in Spain is demanding that country’s government come up with an effective pro-family policy, as Spain now ranks as the European country with the lowest birth rate and the least assistance for families.
In order to illustrate the seriousness of the situation in Spain, IFP president Eduardo Hertfelder highlighted the success of France, which thanks to policies implemented in 1985 to promote family and childbirths, has achieved “a level of generational replacement” and now sits “at the top of the birth rates in Europe.”
“It’s the logical result,” he said, “that one gets when, first of all, there is the political will to help the family, and second, the means are put in place through different organizations and budget allocations.” Hertfelder praised France for its Ministry of the Family, which is been implementing norms and laws in support of the family during the last 20 years.
Immediate adjustments
According to Hertfelder, France differs dramatically with Spain, which “not only continues, together with Italy, to be the country with the lowest birth rate, but also provides the least amount of assistance to the family of all the countries of the EU.” Comparing the family policies of both countries to those of France “is like comparing night and day,” he stressed.
“Thus, a family with three children in France will receive $491 a month, regardless of income, and yet in Spain that family will receive only $93, and only if they are a low-income family. A couple in Spain would need to have 16 kids and be in a low-income bracket in order to receive the same assistance a couple with three children is eligible for in France regardless of their income,” Hertfelder said.
Therefore, the IFP is demanding “an immediate adjustment by the government” in its family policies and that the Spanish government “learn how to imitate the family policies our European neighbors that have been successful.”
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