More and more town halls in the country offer various help for families when a child is born. No matter how high the amount, it does not solve the problem of the aging of the localities, even a mayor who decided to increase the value says. How the situation could be changed.
The baby bump is a help, but it doesn’t solve the birthrate problem PHOTO: Shutterstock
The local council of Bălești, Gorj county, approved last week the granting of an incentive of 1,500 lei to families, for each newborn. The mayor of Mădălin Ion Ungureanu says that the measure is not a new one, but that the amount has been increased from 600 lei, which was approved four years ago, to 1,500 lei. The mayor, on the other hand, is convinced that the money is a help for families, but that it does not solve the problem of the birth rate.
“We have had the support for four years, but the amount was much smaller, it was 600 lei. We thought we had to give more. We would be happy to be the ones to ground population growth, but this would have to be started from the top. And I think that our governors should have this aspect as a priority. From one day to the next we see what this means, we are witnessing a mass depopulation, which is not beneficial for our country”, says the mayor.
The town of Bălești, the largest in Gorj, has, according to the information provided by the mayor, 7,400 souls. About 3,200 are retired people. The number of deaths, as in almost all Romanian localities, exceeds that of births.
“In our commune, the situation is good, a population of 7,400, up to 50 births per year, but at the national level the situation is dramatic. In order to do something, the matter should be started from the top, with certain programs, to stop the youth in the country and to motivate them. And the motivation can only come by giving them loans to be able to purchase housing, the opportunity to find a good job to be able to support the family and so on. We also have a very large diaspora. Our gesture is joy at birth. With 1,500 lei, I thought you could buy something for a child, but that doesn’t mean it’s ok”, added the mayor.
Increasing over two years the period in which the mother can stay with the child, with a benefit from the state, could be another measure, believes the mayor of Bălești, which will eventually lead to an increase in the birth rate. Equally important, says Mădălin mayor Ion Ungureanu, is that the governors manage to stop the exodus.
“Mayors can do one thing, but they can’t do everything, because local politics sanctify the place, but they don’t develop it as they should develop it coming from the national level.” added the mayor.
Low birth rate, high poverty
Any measure by which families are supported to provide a better life for their children is good, says sociologist Robert Santa, even if giving birth incentives does not have the power to increase the birth rate. Other countries had much braver attempts, and even so the results in solving this global problem were not spectacular.
“For a family that has a newborn child, it seems to me that it is auspicious to be helped, a help in a rather difficult time. But it, by itself, is unlikely to have an impact on people’s decision to have children. It’s a very, very small amount, and on the economic side, the cost of raising children is not limited to that initial period. There have been measures with much more money, tested by countries like Hungary, for example, which have not worked extremely well. And yet we are talking about much larger investments, for many more years. Hungary tried a mix of tax deductions with the payment of loans, for example mortgage loans for large families. Now they want to test the payment of student loans, for education, for students, if they have children. But, again, here we are talking about much larger sums than an aid given at the birth of the child”, the sociologist specified.
In recent years the aging trend has accelerated, becoming a problem across the globe. Unfortunately, despite the measures, “no country has been able to turn the wheel”says Robert Santa, but some of the measures have proven effective at least for certain periods.
The Nordic countries, for example, relied on programs to make family life compatible with work, which gave families the opportunity to raise their children and work, through the existence of nurseries in the vicinity of workplaces. The effect was one that may surprise us.
“For a time, they provided especially a very large number of children among educated and active people. In fact, in the Nordic countries we have the unusual situation where educated, active people tend to have the largest families in the respective countries. Up to a point, yes, it worked, but recently there has been a decline in the birth rate there as well.”says Robert Santa, and the relatively short time did not allow the specialists to fully explain their reasons.
What could work in Romania
In order to be able to change in Romania the trend of decreasing the number of children that a couple decides to have, sociologist Robert Santa believes, measures on several levels are needed.
“Financial aid is needed for families, because at the moment, however we put it, people with children have higher expenses than those without, significantly even. So obviously that’s a problem with the way society works. But other things must be done. For example, there are not enough nursery places, parents who want to quickly re-enter the labor market or who do not want to have major career breaks do not always have an opportunity to take their children to a free state nursery and must to spend a lot of money to do so. This should be solved by increasing the number of nurseries, possibly by creating child care facilities in the vicinity of workplaces”, Santa explained.
Large businesses or areas with a lot of offices may consider offering babysitting services. “I think that’s the direction we need to go: what would make life easier for families,” summarizes the sociologist.
One consequence of the fact that the problem of population aging is not solved is the economic problem. “We are somewhat entering a vicious circle: people are having fewer children, but on the other hand the aging population leads to a slowdown in economic activity, worsening the living conditions of the already existing children”, esaid Robert Santa.
“All democracies now tend to have a focus that is limited to the electoral cycle”
Although the problem is global, we are far from adopting policies with a long-term impact, the sociologist believes, and this is because of electoral interest, which is immediate.
“Unfortunately, I would say that this is a trend not for Romania, but for the whole of Europe, and all democracies now tend to have a focus that is limited to the electoral cycle. The demographic problem is very serious, but it manifests itself in the long term. It manifests itself first in the countryside, but before it reaches the big cities in the economies as a whole it sometimes takes decades, when it is already too late to be addressed. As long as the focus of public policies is to please the electorate for a four-year electoral cycle, I don’t think the problem will be solved”, the sociologist also said. Because there are no long-term plans we end up with increasing debt instead, in order to pay the pensions as much as we can, ignoring the fact that with the current demographic structure it will be increasingly difficult to do so, and we also have very, very few measures aimed at solving problems with long-term impact.
As for family aid, although it does not change the demographic trend, it can help in the short term to solve the many problems of poor families.
“We not only have a problem of a very low birth rate, there are very few children, but also a problem caused by the fact that in Romania a very large proportion of children live in poverty, live in marginalization, have limited access to all kinds of services and then if even a small amount of help is given to improve the material condition, to help those children in schools, it is still a positive thing. It’s not just about how many young people there will be in 20-30 years, but also about what educational opportunities they had, how healthy they are”Robert Santa also draws attention.
