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WORLD CONGRESS
OF FAMILIES APPLAUDS PUTIN’S PRO-NATALIST POLICY
World Congress
of Families International Secretary Allan Carlson said Russian President
Vladimir Putin’s new pro-natalist policy is “a recognition of a demographic
crisis confronting the industrialized world – too few children.”
In his annual
address, Russia’s president announced a bold initiative to reverse the nation’s
15-year decline in birthrates. His program includes a monthly $110-stipend to
Russian families that have a second child. Mothers who stay at home to care for
a baby would receive up to 40% of their salary. Additionally, families that have
a second child would receive a direct payment of $9,000, to be used for monthly
mortgage payments or the child’s education.
Russian
birthrates are well below replacement level. As a result, the nation of 146
million is losing roughly 700,000 a year. Thus, the country’s population could
decline by a third by 2050.
Carlson
commented, “To a lesser or greater extent, Russia’s problem is Europe’s problem.
Germany’s birthrate is the lowest since World War II.”
“While liberal
demographers were still talking about a population bomb, we at the World
Congress of Families were warning of a birth dearth – fueled by anti-natalist
policies and societal scorn of large families,” Carlson noted.
“In Prague
(1997), Geneva (1999) and Mexico City (2004), the World Congress of Families
called for a return to the celebration of large families as a gift to society.
We demanded government policies that support the natural urge to procreation and
parenting. The future of humanity lies in a return to fecundity and a
renaissance of family values,” Carlson added.
Demographic
winter will be high on the agenda of World Congress of Families IV, when it
meets in Warsaw, May 11-13, 2007. For more information on the World Congress of
Families, visit
www.worldcongress.org. |