Belgian media on Greece’s low birth rate: “Will the LGBTQ+ law increase the birth rate?”

The Belgian TV channel RTBF asks a logical question about the decline in the birth rate in Greece: “Will the adoption by Parliament on February 15 of a law allowing LGBTQ+ people to marry and adopt children change the situation? We will get the answer in a few years.”

In fact, the report has a typical headline “In the name of Aphrodite (perhaps because she is the goddess of beauty and love) have children”! Next, the Belgian channel analyzes the acute problem of insufficient fertility in Greece much deeperthan the Greek media and focuses on the appalling high costs and low salaries of Greeks.

What is especially striking is that the demographic problem is dealt with by the Belgians, and not the Greek government

“The generation size in Greece is so low that the mortality rate is higher. To combat the crisis, the conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is launching a national budget plan of 90 million euros.

The problem is not new. Back in 2020, the same Conservative government provided a €2,000 bonus for every new birth. However, after one year it became clear that this measure was far from sufficient. However, according to Eurostat, the birth rate in 2021 increased to 1.43. And the government is not particularly concerned about the fact that this increase was mainly due to Roma and migrants from Asian and African countries.

However, the crisis is taking its toll and if in 2023 there are only 77,000 newborns in the country, then the number of births will be half as many as deaths (144,000). The birth rate is at its lowest level in 80 years, since the great famine of World War II, which killed 15% of the country’s population.

Various measures have been taken to address the problem of child shortage. First of all, an increase in payments for the birth of a child, starting in April. This bonus is currently €2,000 and will be increased to €2,400 for the first child.

The more children Greeks have, the more the bonus will increase, as confirmed by the Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Sophia Zacharaki. For the second child it will increase to 2,700 euros, and for the third – to 3,000 euros. This bonus will be supplemented by an extension of maternity leave from four to nine months for freelancers and farmers.

The tax-exempt threshold will also be increased. Heating benefits will also be increased – from 3,000 to 5,000 euros per child. Finally, the price of baby milk will be controlled. However, the increase in benefits does not allow paying for even two months due to inflation, which is galloping in Greece.

According to the 2021 census, the population of Greece is estimated at 10,482,487 people, ¼ of whom are over 65 years of age. The problem is that in ten years this population has decreased by 3.11%.

Around 450,000 people under the age of 40 went abroad to find work during the economic crisis. Youth unemployment, which was also a real problem at the time, contributed to the exodus of a new generation.

Having children is good. But you still need to be able to feed them. And this is already a problem. The Greeks are barely recovering from the austerity crisis imposed by Europe.

In Greece, the price of milk for babies is the highest in Europe

For comparison: 800 grams of powdered milk for children under 6 months from Nestlé is sold in supermarkets and pharmacies for 27 euros, while in France the price is 14 euros, and in Belgium – 18 euros.

Diapers and feeding bottles were not left out. These products necessary for young mothers have risen in price by 22%. Another example is olive oil, a staple of the famous Greek diet. Its price has skyrocketed. 15 euros per liter now!

This angers the Greeks. As Angelika Kourounis, RTBF correspondent in Greece, told us, we now ask friends living abroad to bring olive oil, when they come on vacation to this region!!!

The maternity benefit is lower than the cost of childbirth! Some couples go so far as to take out a loan for childbirth and get into debt with the bank!

Greece consists of many islands and small deserted villages, where there is not a single maternity hospital or even a gynecologist. Therefore, women have to travel to find a doctor and give birth to a child. And this is again expensive. Therefore, the government will also focus on increasing revenue.

Currently, the minimum wage barely exceeds 780 euros gross. After birth, the child and his parents will face other problems. There are no kindergartens in the country. Parents have to turn to the private sector, which, of course, is not cheap.

School is expensive, and so are sports. Enrolling children in football, for example, costs 60 euros per year per child. Add to this the monthly fees… Therefore, the most pessimistic fear that at this rate the population of Greece will continue to decline, losing more than 2 million inhabitants by 2050!”

My meeting with the Greek Labour Minister @AdonisGeorgiadi was extremely productive in exploring strong collaborations. We're focused on fulfilling Greece's need for 500,000 skilled workers, particularly in construction. InShaAllah in the coming days we will sign a G2G agreement… pic.twitter.com/OmD9zqqYjL

— Jawad Sohrab (@JawadSohrab) December 19, 2023

PS The Belgians apparently are not aware, but the Mitsotakis government has already found a solution to the demographic problem. The solution is ingenious, like everything that comes out of the walls of Megaro Maximo“(residence of the Prime Minister of Greece) in recent years. The Greek authorities are negotiating with Egypt and Pakistan for imports 500 thousand workers from these countries.

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