COUPLES having a third child could receive a one-off payment of £20,000, if a bill drawn up by the Labour Ministry is approved.
In a bid to combat the low birth rate in Cyprus, the Labour Ministry has prepared a package of incentives that includes one-off payments of £20,000 to families giving birth to their third child and for every child after that.
Cyprus’ birth rate is 1.4 per cent, well below the 2.10 per cent replenishment rate.
Many families in Cyprus stop at two children, for which they are granted a tax allowance of £500 a year.
Labour Minister Antonis Vassiliou told a meeting of the House Labour Committee convened to discuss a possible extension of maternity leave that this was one of the many measures his ministry had included in the package, currently being presented to the Cabinet.
But he expressed reservations over the cost of a proposal by DIKO’s Fytos Constantinou for the extension of maternity leave from 16 weeks to 25.
“To increase maternity leave by nine weeks would entail a state cost of £5.5 million just for the public sector. I don’t think we could handle more than a two-week extension,” said the minister.
Vassiliou said the package would be discussed and approved by the Cabinet within the next two weeks, adding he would return to the Committee in three months’ time to discuss the specific matter of maternity leave.
Deputies, trade unions and employers’ organisations were all called on to express their views on Constantinou’s proposal, and with the exception of the employers, all agreed that an increase in maternity leave was a necessity.
“The extension of maternity leave is something that will benefit the state in the long-term and is something that is already in force in many other European countries,” said Constantinou, citing the example of Italy, where mothers are given 20 weeks’ leave and paid 80 per cent of their wages, compared to Cyprus’ 75 per cent.
DISY’s Eleni Theocharous agreed. “The psychological umbilical cord is not cut off immediately after birth.”
When DISY had submitted a similar proposal five years ago, Theocharous added, she had presented a scientific study that showed the importance of a mother’s presence in her child’s first year of life. “I strongly believe that if we approve this expansion now, we will see the social benefits in the long run.”
But as the Labour Minister pointed out, it will take much deliberation with all parties involved – employers in particular – before a conclusion is reached that satisfies everyone as best as possible.
