Greece has announced drastic measures worth up to €1.6bn, to address a demographic crisis of unprecedented scale [1] which the Greek prime minister has called one of the biggest challenges facing the Mediterranean nation.
The news comes as the country announced the closure of 700 schools [2] due to falling pupil numbers.
“We know that the cost of living is one thing if you don’t have a child and another if you have two or three children,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Sunday after announcing the policies. “So, as a state we should find a way to reward our citizens who make the choice [of having children].”
The measures, which range from a 2 percentage point reduction for all tax brackets to a zero rate for low-income families with four children, will be rolled out in 2026, said Mitsotakis.
With fertility rates in Greece among the lowest in Europe – at 1.4 children a woman, the reproduction rate is well below the replacement level of 2.1 – Mitsotakis has called the problem a “national threat”.
Acknowledging the decline had assumed existential proportions, finance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said fertility rates had halved since the start of the country’s economic crisis 15 years ago.