France Boosts Incentives for Having Kids

[tocqueville]

By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 3 minutes ago

PARIS - Working mother Catherine Ginier-Gillet has two children and would like to get going on a third. But Parisian life — too costly, crowded and frenetic — "doesn't allow it," she says.

Help is on the way. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is expected to announce on Thursday new incentives, including a boost in the monthly stipend for parents who take unpaid leave to care for a third child from the current $622 to between $850 and $1,215.

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Key to boosting fertility rates is making sure that women can both have children and work, because "if we force them to choose between working or being mothers, they will choose work," he said.

France already has generous welfare and child care provisions to help parents, including lower taxes for families with more children. Mothers with modest incomes get a $1,000 bonus for each new child, smaller monthly payments until a child's third birthday and help with child-care costs

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050921/ap_on_re_eu/france_making_babies

[Maple]

1. A 'baby bonus'

That's what it's called in Canada...although ours is so out of date that it's worthless.