Italy’s government approved a new budget last week, setting aside 1 billion euros to support mothers and families, in an effort to boost the national birthrate.

The country’s fertility rate is currently one of the lowest in Europe.

Some of those measures include increased financial aid to working mothers with two or more children, increased government funding for day care facilities, and extended parental leave. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, herself a working mother, said, “We want to dismantle the narrative that birthrate is a disincentive to work. We want to incentivize those who give birth to children and want to work.”

She added: “We want to establish that a woman who gives birth to at least two children has already made an important contribution to society, and therefore, the state partly compensates by paying social security contributions”.