LABOUR Ministry suggestions for incentives for families to have a third child have not gone down well with large families.
“They’re prepared to fork out a lump sum for families to have another child, but what about large families who already three, or four, or five children. Are they going to give us anything?” asked Elizabeth Polycarpou, 34.
Labour Minister Antonis Vassiliou told the Cyprus Mail the ministry was planning on proposing a five-figure lump payment to parents having a third child.
Increasingly concerned at the growing number of couples choosing to have only one or two children, the government hopes the measure will increase the island’s flagging birth rate.
“We are going to discuss the issue at the Cabinet first before I can say how much money we are proposing to pay out,” Vassiliou said.
He said additional lump sums would also be paid to parents having a fourth or fifth child, and so on.
But parents with three or four children already would be exempt from the cash payout.
“This sum will not be backdated,” he said.
Polycarpou said she believed the government had not thought the issue through properly.
She said: “What about after the baby is born? That is when all the expenses really start. When you have three or four children life becomes more expensive as a household… This solution is just a quick fix. They’re saying ‘here’s the money, now have a kid’. But that’s only a short-term solution, what about the long term?”
The mother of four said having children was “very expensive” and that a lot of families had to work two jobs just to make ends meet. Then because they earned over the £10,000 tax bracket they were taxed more.
“They don’t realise that they earn more, because they work more, because they need more to cover their expenses,” she said.
Polycarpou said she received a monthly subsidy of £213 for her four children and that the sum had not increased in the past two years, despite the cost of living going up.
“It’s the small things that you wouldn’t even think about. It costs me £15 a week in nappies and powdered milk. I also have to buy nappy rash creams. Then there is the cost of child minders because there aren’t enough nurseries that take infants, which set me back a further £130 because I had to put my youngest in a private nursery,” she said.
The 34-year-old said she and her husband needed £700 to pay back loans for their home and car, £200 in running expenses, then there were the children’s private lessons, clothes, pocket money and insurance payments.
“You need £1,000 on living expenses easily and with food that goes up to £1,500. So what’s £213 in that month? They’re trying to attract people to have kids, but what about looking after the ones that already have them,” she said.
Polycarpou pointed out that a lump sum might be used to buy a new car, but then what would families do?
“Are they going to save it to send their children to university? This seems to be a rash decision just to entice people to have kids. I put on two wash loads every day and because of all the water I used I’m charged for it. How about giving us 30 per cent discounts. They are saying there is a problem, and yet they don’t support the ones who need it,” she said.
The mother of four said there was no national policy on how to deal with large families.
“When you have a lot of children you’re made to feel bad for it, like you’re a scavenger. Do you know a lot of people thought we had a fourth child just for the extra £70 a month and the £2,000 we got to buy a new car? What would we do that for? You can’t buy a car for six with £2,000. In fact we ended up having to get another a loan for £5,000 on top of that and so ended up even more in debt. You have to live it to know what it’s like.”
She added: “I have no complaints from my life, I just want my family to be healthy, but I could still do with the support. People need to speak out. They are just trying to attract people to have kids now, without looking into the future.”
But Vassiliou said the government would give parents more support.
“Our proposal is twofold. One is the lump payment for parents planning to have a third child and the other involves building more government run nurseries, increasing the child allowance and increasing maternity leave. These measure will apply to all families, irrespective of whether or not they’ve already had their third child,” the minister said.
