france" "
France, after Ireland, is the EU country with the highest fertility rate. But the birth rate, equivalent to 1.9 children per woman, is not enough to secure generational renewal. Nor is that all: according to surveys, the French don’t have the number of children they desire. Many couples, moreover, renounce their third child. For these reasons, the government has decided to introduce a series of measures in favour of large families. They were presented by the Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to the Conference of the Family held on 22 September. The first measure is the reform of parental leave which is the longest in Europe (three years) but risks causing undue damage to women by making their return to work more problematic. That’s why many women renounce the leave to which they are entitled for fear of sacrificing their profession too much. This has led to the decision to complement the three-year leave with the possibility of a shorter maternity leave (lasting one year), but one that is better paid (basic 750 Euro per month, 50% more than the three-year parental leave). Second, the government has decided to increase aid to early childhood with the creation of 15,000 new kindergarten places to be added to the 26,000 that already existed in 2002. Third, the government intends to boost the benefits of the “large family” card that currently encourages the use of public transport. It is also the intention of the government or so at least the prime minister has promised to extend subsidies and reduced tariffs to other goods and services. In a communiqué, the national Federation of CATHOLIC FAMILY ASSOCIATIONS (which represents 35,000 families and which is celebrating its centenary this year) has expressed its satisfaction in premier Villepin’s aid package in favour of large families. “In a context of financial belt-tightening says the communiqué this intention of the government reveals an acknowledgement of the greater influence that family policy is exerting on economic and demographic balances and also on the quality of the social bond”. The Federation also applauds the intention to extend the “large family card”: “a visible sign say the associations in support of families that have a great need in their daily life for some alleviation of the burdens that act as a brake on their consumption”.
