“Without children, the country has no future,” political scientist Anna Shavit commented on the new figures of the statistical office. Last year, 77,600 children were born in the Czech Republic, which is the lowest number since 1785. 35,700 more people died.
The new measure by the government of Andrej Babiš (ANO) to introduce a “babysitting fee” for student parents in the amount of about a third of the minimum wage is considered by Marksová to be a good idea. “But the problem is the discontinuity. Will the next government come in and cancel it?” he is worried. She criticized the previous government of Petr Fiala (ODS) for canceling the deduction of kindergarten fees from taxes. “So do I want to have children here or not?” he does not understand the decision of the previous cabinet.
Shavit is concerned that politicians often only talk about supporting families, but in practice do nothing for them. However, she reminded that the declining birth rate is a problem for all European countries.
Stanek: Close them up so they can have sex
Staněk contributed to the debate with a non-standard solution proposal. Given that the number of newly born children increased during the covid pandemic, he thought of simulating the situation. “So wouldn’t it be worth locking those people up to have sex?” he laughed.
According to Staňek, the young generation has little sex. “There is a change in social behavior. They don’t want to socialize. They drink less, make fewer relationship mistakes,” he continued.
Shavit believes that the state should try to make it easier for women to have children. For example, to introduce surveillance at universities.
Their economic situation and lack of housing have a great influence on people’s decisions to have or not to have children. According to Marksová, municipalities should therefore intervene in the situation. “Housing support for young couples is nothing new,” she mentioned.
Marksová identified the government’s efforts to support construction as the right direction, the cabinet promises 50,000 new apartments per year. “But I would see it through the cooperation of the state and municipalities,” she added.
Do Czechs like children? What are Czech parents missing? And how do the Czechs compare to other countries? Will the arrival of refugees prevent extinction? Listen to the entire episode of the new episode of the Political season in the beginning of the article or in the podcast applications.
Four debaters from different spheres discuss current political events at one table. Although the election season is over, the political season continues and with it our program, which is published on Fairpress and in podcast applications.
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