Ending abortion and supporting families go in tandem.
For years, leaders of the ruling political party in Poland have been striving to do both, making their country one of the few pro-life areas left in Europe.
This week, Notes from Poland reported about another new initiative by government leaders to encourage young families to have children.
Marlena Maląg, the Polish minister for labor, families and social policy, said the government is working on a new program to provide better employment, housing and financial support to parenting families.
Speaking with Polsat News, Maląg said recent research suggests 95 percent of young people in Poland want children but they worry about financial stability. She said their soon-to-be-adopted plan will create a “systemic, comprehensive pro-family policy” to help young parents and hopefully boost the birth rate to a sustainable level.
Like much of Europe, the population in Poland is shrinking and growing old as birth rates continue to fall. According to the report, recent predictions estimate the population of Poland will drop by about 4 million over the next 30 years if the birth rate remains the same.
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According to Eurostat data, an average 1.44 children are born per family in Poland. The population replacement rate is 2.1.
Economists and other researchers are warning about a “demographic winter” in Europe if the birth rates remain so low, with disastrous effects on the economy and the care that eventually will be needed for the aging.
Polish government leaders are strongly pro-life. For years, they have been working to protect unborn babies from abortion, promote the value of children and family and support families in need.
Here’s more from Notes from Poland:
Since coming to power in 2015, the national-conservative ruling coalition has implemented a number of “pro-family” policies, most notably its flagship “500 Plus” child benefit programme. However, such schemes, though popular, have so far failed in their aim of boosting the birth rate.
At the start of 2022, an additional new child benefit scheme will be launched. Under the so-called “parental care capital” programme, parents will be entitled to 12,000 zloty (€2,610) for each child after their firstborn between the age of 12 and 36 months.
Poland has some of the strongest legal protections for unborn babies in Europe. In 2020, its Constitutional Court struck down an exception that had allowed unborn babies with disabilities to be aborted. Now, abortions are prohibited except in cases of rape, incest or threats to the mother’s life.
