In a discussion that took place in Forum of Delphithe Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Affairs, Sophia Zacharakis, described the government’s program to deal with the demographic and its axes. He spoke about the key element of balancing family and work life – e.g. increase in tax-free allowance per child, increase in wages in the public sector, increase in maternity leave in the private sector and the possibility to transfer this leave to the other parent, €365m nursery school vouchers, as well as Eurobank-funded research into new couple about what could help or prevent them from having a child.

The minister referred extensively to the subsidized loans. As he said, “this week we have reached 5,600 loans to new couples, social compensation – using public property for apartments and other places, but also the assessment of how legal immigration can help with staffing needs.”

Sofia Zaharaki also spoke about assisted production, as the average age of couples who have a child has increased. Legislating to get retirees back to work is part of that policy, he concluded.

THE Michalis Vlastarakis, head of Eurobank’s marketing department, clarified that it can be considered that demographics are a matter for the State, but the private sector can also contribute. “We focused on young couples who want to have a child, but cannot for medical reasons. The percentage is greater than what we imagine,” he noted. In fact, he explained that there are people who need immediate financial relief and others who need psychological support for the new family or jobs in their place.

“At Eurobank, we looked at our products to see what needs we can meet, e.g. two years of free insurance products, discount programs for baby items, etc., while they also redesigned their internal policies, focusing on helping new parents,” added Michalis Vlastarakis.

THE Vassilis Kellaris, reproductive gynecologist and vice president of Mother and Embryogenesis in Health said in turn that the trend for requested assisted reproduction services in recent years is increasing and this trend is also valid for the rest of Europe. But, as he revealed, unfortunately only 30% of people facing difficulties turn to specialists.

He explained that an important role is played by insufficient information on the subject, which applies throughout Greece regardless of living standards and education. “We are in a fertility trap. The index is poised to drop below 1.5 children per woman,” he added. Explaining the importance of assisted production, he said that “in Greece, one in 20 children born is by IVF, an important number that must be increased.

THE Faye Makandasis, diaNEosis researcher, gave important statistics showing that “the problem in Greece is that we don’t give birth”. And contrary to some who think the problem is new, he revealed that from the generation of 1940 to 1978 no generation was replaced, to do that we need to have 2.1 children per woman. The country’s population will be halved in sixty years if current trends continue.

However, citing the surveys that have been done, he emphasized that “they show that we want to have more children than we have, which means that there are factors that prevent us, while the most important factor is financial difficulties, followed by lifestyle changes. Finally, he emphasized that “in order to be 10 million Greeks, we should have integrated at least 750,000 immigrants by 2050”.