Three times everything can be too much: families with triplets ask for aid

FAMILIES with triplets are demanding greater state assistance to help them cope with their increased expenses in a time of austerity.
During a get-to-know-you gathering held on Sunday at the ‘Dreamland Playground’ at Tersefanou village, the Association of Families of Triplets said the state has effectively neglected them.
Head of the association Vangelis Malas said that all the children’s expenses – milk, diapers – were triple for them compared to the average family. In addition, caring for triplets means more stress, and less sleep at night, which impacts parents’ work performance.
“The built-up stress is so intense that it can often lead to divorce,” Malas said.
Some of their demands: a 12-month maternity leave and a six-month paternity leave, on full pay; no transfers for mothers employed in the broader public sector until their children reach the age of four; a permit to hire a housemaid for the first six years, paid for by the state; a 50 per cent discount on tuition and other fees for triplets enrolled in public or municipal kindergartens,  and a similar discount for triplets attending public elementary and middle schools; and admissions priority given to triplets in public or municipal kindergartens.
Moreover, families with triplets want a special tax regime to apply to them, whereby the entire family would be collectively taken as the taxable unit. Under this proposal, the income of all family members would be added up and then divided by the number of individuals to work out the applicable tax rate.
The newly formed association, which counts around 140 families, intends to lobby the three main presidential candidates.

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