Pro-Natalist Policies – Italy

A pro-natalist policy is a governmental policy introduced to encourage more births through the use of incentives. A decrease in birth rate decreases the supply of labour and creates an aging population which as its own impacts on society.

In 2007, Italy’s population of 56 million was expected to decline to around 41 million by 2050. This fall creates problems with too few consumers and skilled workers to keep economy going, and decreasing tax revenues and increasing pension and health care costs as the population ages. By raising the birth rate, it would provide Italy with a cheap labour force.

Mussolini was the first to introduce pro-natalist policies by making abortions illegal. However this did not go well as the Italian women didn’t agree with his view of women as baby making factories.

Italy then introduced another pro-natalist policy in 2003. This included the Italian government offering a one-time payment of €1000 (£700) to couples who have a second child. Women in straightened economic circumstances could also receive €250 to €300 a month for up to 6 months before giving birth. This applied to single women with an income of less than €25,000 a year or those who are unemployed /working on temporary contracts, with a family income of less than €40,000 a year. However take-up was extremely low. So the government discussed an additional bonus for firstborn children and raised the retirement age to 57 (for men and women) in 2005. But then in 2008, the retirement age got raised again to 60 and people could only retired if they had completed at least 40 years of pension contributions.

Nowadays, Italy is offering more tax advantages or better welfare benefits for women who have more than one child. Companies also have to provide family-friendly employment conditions (eg flexible hours, job sharing or affordable childcare), which is thought to be causing the rise in birth rate.

Anti-Natalist Policies – China

An anti-natalist policy is a governmental policy introduced…