< p>The progress of the demographic and family policy action plan was today the focus of the ad Hoc Committee for the Study of the Demographic Problem in Cyprus.
At the session it was presented by the Minister of Labor and Social Insurance Kyriakos Kousios and the Deputy Minister Social Welfare Anastasia Anthousi the various measures and incentives given to deal with the problem with the MPs admitting that work is being done, but much more needs to be done as the birth rate today is only 1.4%.
In her intervention at the Committee, Mrs. Anthousi referred to the actions of the Deputy Ministry. The first plan concerns the Tuition and Feeding Subsidy for Children up to 4 years of age, and provides for the subsidization of part of the monthly cost of schooling for children up to 4 years of age. As he mentioned, beneficiaries are families who have children up to four years old and receive Child Benefit.
The plan was implemented in September 2022 and already an amount of more than €1.8 million has been granted. A key objective of the Government is to close the gender employment gap by offering low-cost childcare and education from the earliest stages of a child's life. The amount of the subsidy amounts to 80% of the monthly amount of the scholarships, with a maximum amount ranging from €100 to €350 for each child.
The second plan concerns the creation of at least 27 Multipurpose Centers for Children and Child Care Centers and accommodation structures for children, adolescents with behavioral disorders and adults with long-term care needs. The total investment amounts to 23 million 725 thousand euros and the beneficiaries are Non-Governmental Organizations and Local Authorities.
According to Ms. Anthousi, for the State Support Plan for Social Welfare Services, in 2021, funding was granted for the operation of 127 programs (45% of all programs – 281) aimed at children (operation of daycare centers, Child Protection and Employment Centers) , coke), with a total investment of €2.7 million, which is 20% of the total expenditure (€12.7 million).
Another measure to address the problem of low birth rates concerns the strengthening of infrastructure in mountainous areas, with the operation of a childcare center in Kalopanagiotis for the last two years, the creation of a childcare center in Pachnas Community which is in the final stage of completion, as well as the granting of € 140,000 for the development of a similar project in the Trimiklini Community.
From the "Baby Dowry" Plan, as Mrs. Anthousi mentioned, 2,500 vulnerable families have benefited, with a total expenditure of €2.9 million. The Scheme provides essential baby care consumer goods, worth a total of €1,649, to families in need.
As far as the housing sector is concerned, the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare offers financial support, in the form of a Rent Allowance, to secure housing, which is included under the Minimum Guaranteed Income. For the year 2021, according to Mrs. Anthousi, an amount of €11.2 million was granted, and until October 2022, the amount amounted to €8.9 million.
Also, 17,829 mothers of many children benefited from new benefits or the reinstatement of benefits that had been abolished by the previous administration, totaling €8.9 million.
In addition, according to the Deputy Minister, the income criteria of the Benefit were increased Child regarding families with three or more children, adding to the limit of €59,000 an additional €5,000 for each child after the second.
Mrs. Anthousi also referred to the One-time grant to support vulnerable population groups to deal with inflationary pressures and the consequent increases in goods and services, as well as the One-time "Back to School" grant. to families with children aged 4-18, with the aim of supporting groups of the population that have suffered consequences due to inflationary pressures.
Finally, he referred to the scheme for granting benefits to families who have triplets or more.
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In his statements after the Commission's session, the President of the Commission, Linos Papagiannis, said that today in front of the Minister of Labor and Social Insurance Kyriakos Kousios and the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Anastasia Anthousis, the Commission discussed the issue of low birth rates in Cyprus, asking all the Ministries for information on whether there is any differentiation within the framework of the National Strategy.
The Ministers and the representatives of the Ministries, as Mr. Papagiannis said, informed about the strategy followed by the state and which is the continuation of the policy that had been followed and the previous year.
He stated that there is a difference in dealing with the problem in relation to what the Government is following. He said that there are some data on the problem of subfertility, the indicators have not improved, but it cannot be said that efforts are not being made.
"Unfortunately, however, there are some data that cannot be disputed, the problem continues to grow. and at the same time for our country to face the threat called demographic change”, he said.
Mr. Papagiannis stated that the birth rate looks set to hover around 1.4%, which means that the minimal increase from 1.3%, as has been said in the past, comes from births to foreign couples and not from the native population.
"We are sounding the alarm once again and I want to hope that with the revision of the National Strategy we will have some better results", he concluded.
DISY Member of Parliament Prodromos Alabritis congratulated the Minister of Labor and the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare for the issues that were initiated and implemented, among which were the extension of maternity leave, the implementation of paternity leave and the institutionalization of paid parental leave.
At the same time, he welcomed the tuition subsidy in nurseries, the increase in income criteria for child allowance, the reinstatement of the mother's allowance, the housing plans of the Ministry of the Interior to support families and the increase in optional all-day schools.
Mr. Alabritis noted, however, that in order to support the family and to deal with the problem of low fertility, much more must be done in the context of an integrated plan.
In DISY's proposals on the issue of low birth rates, Mr. Alabritis referred to the increase of the family's tax-free income to 39.5 thousand euros in order to increase the purchasing power of the family, to the expansion of the child allowance to cover many more families with the total amount to increase with each additional child to help families have a second, third or even more child.
He also proposed, on behalf of DISY, the extension of parental leave, the implementation of flexible working, the creation of nurseries in workplaces and in collaboration with the Local Government, the issuance of a newborn child package for all children, the study of granting a lump sum for the birth of each child with a larger increase for the 3rd and 4th child, the extension of full-day school and the extension of the housing programs of the Ministry of Health.
Mr. Alabritis finally congratulated the Deputy Minister of Welfare for the reflexes that demonstrated in the case of the birth of the quadruplets in Aradippou. Due to the income criteria of the parents, they were not entitled to an allowance and Mrs. Anthousi managed to support this family with her actions.
DIPA Member of Parliament Alekos Tryfonidis said that the situation in Cyprus with births is tragic as for a state to have good prospects, the minimum rate of births should be 2.6%.
Despite the honorable efforts made by all Ministers, the situation remains at these dangerous points in Cyprus, said Mr. Tryfonidis and noted that with the tragic birth rates in Cyprus, in 30 years Cyprus will be left with half the population.
Mr. Tryfonidis stated that DIPA applauds what was done, but found many gaps and made many suggestions. The first thing that needs to be done, he said, is the coordination of the Ministries so that the actions of one are complementary to the other and there is no disharmony.
On this specific issue, Kyriakos Kousios said before the Committee that the actions of the Ministries are taken at the level of the Council of Ministers and therefore one Minister knows what the other Ministry will do, however he admitted that there is room for better coordination.
Mr. Tryfonidis then referred to the need to reduce the procedures that need to be done by the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, with Mrs. Anthousi recognizing the specific need. For example, as explained by Mr. Tryfonidis, the dowry of the baby which is granted based on income criteria, should be given directly to the mother. However, it has been found that it can take up to 18 months for the specific allowance to be given.
Other recommendations of DIPA speak of an increase in full-day primary and secondary schools, as well as incentives related to housing policy on agricultural land or land under cultivation.
«It is imperative that we see this national problem of low birth rates immediately and collectively as a State because if we stay with the same conditions there will be tragic results for our country and for all of us in the future»?, he concluded.
Source: KYPE
