Italian baby boom?

Rome -- In a country that has one of the lowest birth rates in the world--1.2 children per woman--the Italian government has pledged 1,000 euros (about $1,300 Cdn) to those women who already have one child, and give birth to a second by the end of 2004. The government states that this baby bonus shows a concrete support for families and will be an incentive to increase the number of children in the country. (Ed: A similar plan, which was introduced in the province of Quebec under the late Premier Bourassa, proved quite successful, but a succeeding Parti Quebecois government abolished it).

Italian opposition has been fierce and predictable. Critics have trotted out the costs of daycare, the difficulty of combining motherhood and work, the discriminating limited time frame, and the eligibility limitation to Italian and other European citizens only.

But individual local governments are offering their own economic incentives to increase the population of babies. For example, the mayor of Laviano, near Naples, is generously offering 10,000 euros (about $13,000 Cdn) for any baby born in his village. No deadline or strings attached. (BBC--Dec1)