“Les enfants de la patrie”, the sons of the fatherland celebrated by the Marseillaise, have become a bit too many. Strong arms, it's true, but also mouths to feed. And so France finds itself having to manage, economically, a baby boom that it first fueled and has now gotten out of hand.
The Wall Street Journal dedicates an extensive report to a somewhat unusual problem for a nation of the Old Continent, which - by now almost by definition - seems condemned to an inexorable mass ageing.
With an average of 2,01 children born per woman, France has the highest birth rate in the European Union, after Ireland. In recent years, newborns have grown at a rate not seen in the country since the XNUMXs.
The takeoff of childbirth is the proud fruit of a precise national policy: while the European population continues to fall, France is growing, with a good portion of the adult population of working age who in the future will be able to support both infants and the elderly .
The French mini baby boom arrived thanks to generous subsidies and services for families. There are allowances, tax breaks, government housing aid. For the noble intention, the equivalent of 4% of GDP was spent, the highest rate among the 34 industrialized countries of the OECD. And, for the record, almost double the average: 2,2%.
The problem is that more babies, kids and students need more kindergartens, schools and universities. All structures that Paris is trying to finance, despite the deficit. Many young adults have to rely on social security checks because the state is failing to create enough jobs. Among the various initiatives, there is a new support program for 100 unemployed young people. Cost of the operation: more than 600 million euros per year.
The French government is confident and believes these efforts will pay off. But many economists argue that Paris needs to review its welfare, including measures for the family.
President François Hollande, shortly before taking office, had promised to reduce the deficit/GDP ratio to 3% and invest in future generations.
Less than a year after his election, Hollande had to face a more problematic reality. Unemployment continues to rise. The deficit as well.
Yet the Elysium does not give up. It goes ahead with the plan to create 150 jobs for young people at a cost of 3,5 billion euros a year. Last month, he set up a welfare system that guarantees unemployed young people €500 a month. At the moment there are 10 beneficiaries, but in the next few years 100 people should be covered.
France continues to focus on young people. Even too much, according to some. The fate of the unusual leadership of an Old European country is not yet clear. Meanwhile, for the children of the country, "le jour de gloire" - the day of glory, just to return to the Marseillaise - has not yet arrived.
