2023-09-30 15:34:08
The fertility rate has fallen in Poland to 1.26 children per woman, according to figures published in May 2023 by the Central Statistics Office, which makes this country one of the EU’s red lanterns in terms of demographics.
50 billion
The birth rate situation in Poland is “mediocre”confirms demographer Iga Magda, professor at the SGH Higher School of Business, one of the country’s main economic universities, and researcher at the IBS Institute of Structural Research. «Several factors contribute to this, including the Covid pandemic and the feeling of insecurity in our society. The means allocated to financing family policy are not in question. Today we are among the countries that spend the most on this, just behind France and the Scandinavian countries.»she continues.
The government of the populist nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, in power for eight years, has made the birth rate its hobby horse and has devoted the equivalent of more than 50 billion euros to it since 2016.
“Except that spending billions has not at all translated into an increase in the birth rate, with the exception of 2017 after the introduction of the 500+ allowance; and it was only a momentary acceleration. » Launched in 2016, the 500 + project consists of paying a monthly allowance of 500 zlotys (€115) for each minor child.
The role of the man in the family
Slawomir Bartnicki, sociologist at the University of Bialystok and co-author of a study on the 500+ allowance, also believes that it “did not change anything for the birth rate”contrary to what the government claims. “It is a plaster stuck on an evil linked to cultural changes, the rise of individualism and secularization”, he believes. Iga Magda adds the instability of the job market, where many young people work on fixed-term contracts; the high cost of housing and the lack of flexibility of schedules.
Another factor, of a cultural nature, is the traditional role of the man in the family. Despite the (late) application of the European directive which results in nine weeks of parental leave reserved for men, only 2% to 3% of fathers take advantage of it.
The government added other measures, including an additional allowance of 500 zlotys known as ” Baby ” (Toddler) for children aged 12 to 35 months, another to reduce the costs of nursery school and promised to increase the number of nursery schools in small towns. He also modified the labor code to better reconcile employment and family obligations. The effects of these initiatives have not yet been measured.
No in vitro fertilization
The head of Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, himself indirectly recognized the persistence of the demographic problem and expressed his frustration. Referring to the low fertility rate in November 2022, he attributed it to excessive alcohol consumption among young Polish women.
The government’s refusal to finance in vitro fertilization also plays a role as a brake, even if certain towns held by the opposition do it in its place. According to experts, a recent decision by the Constitutional Court, practically banning abortion in cases of non-lethal malformation of the embryo could also make women hesitate to start a pregnancy.
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