The problem of low birth rates should’ve been put on the government’s table 25 years ago, says Latvian Employers’ Confederation’s Social Affairs and Social Security expert Pēteris Leiškalns.
He explained that birth rates are closely tied to the number of women aged 22 to 35 years in the country. During period of transformation in the 90s birth rates had gone down considerably – in 1987 there were 42 000 births and in 1997 there were only 19 000. In the first decade of the 2000s, however, problems appeared on the labour market – the youngsters who failed to find jobs in Latvia left to look for jobs in other countries. This caused Latvia to suffer losses from emigration, said Leiškalns.
Currently the number of women aged 25 to 30 years is rapidly going down in Latvia. If the country wants to maintain birth rates, ensure successive replacement of generations, every mother in every family needs to give birth to at least three children, the expert suggested.
«Latvia once had a Ministry of Child, Family and Public Integration. This minister’s duty was viewing each legislative act in the context of family support. But this ministry was liquidated in 2009.
These topics were no longer represented and addressed in the Cabinet of Ministers.
During the financial crisis families were children were the ones to carry the burden and leave for other countries in search of a better life. Now we’re suffering through the consequences of it all,» said Leiškalns.
He also stressed that families with children are no longer considered as a single whole that requires special social guarantees.
Mostly benefits are focused on single-person households, ignoring the fact that there are various different kinds.
According to Leiškalns, it is still possible to fix the demographic situation in Latvia. For example, the head of Demographic Affairs Centre Imants Parādnieks has developed a National Regrowth Strategy, which puts emphasis on raising the quality of life and accessibility of services for families that have children.
One measure listed in the strategy is relieving student loan burdens, allowing student loans to be cut by half with the birth of the first child and having it erased completely with the birth of a second child. Additionally, it is believes birth rates would benefit from improving housing accessibility for families with children. Another measure is increasing child care benefits.
«Women usually fall out of the labour market after giving birth. They lose their career. If both parents are committed to taking care of their children to reduce workload, this means losing half of the parent benefit, which forces making the choice of who will be taking care of the children. Then there is the unresolved problem of kindergarten accessibility. Often parents have to wait a long time to be able to return to work because there is no one else to look after children,» said Leiškalns.
He also mentioned that
in Latvia children are not provided with timely healthcare from the public sector,
which is a negative factor. At the same time, he said it is highly important to provide children of school age with state-funded education and housing, because a single or two-bedroom apartment is too small for a family with children. Each child needs his or her own room.
It is also important, according to Leiškalns, is state-subsidised education. ‘Families have to be provided with an opportunity to live normally and educate themselves. If the state continues acting as it has been so far, nothing will change for birth rates,’ said the expert.
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