'Baby bonus' would pay Swedish parents to have children
In an effort to boost Sweden’s birthrate, the Christian Democrats are considering a proposal that would pay families 10,000 kronor ($1,085) for every newborn child.
“There are simply too few children being born and that’s regrettable,” said Anders Sellström, a member of the Christian Democrats’ governing board, to the Svenksa Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.
Sellström also leads a working group within the party tasked with formulating a revised family policy ahead of the 2010 parliamentary elections.
According to figures from Statistics Sweden (SCB), 109,301 children were born in Sweden last year. But the Christian Democrats want to see that number increase.
“We want to find incentives and have looked at how it’s done in other countries. Many have some sort of baby bonus and society must send the signal that ‘We need more children,’” Sellström told SvD.
Sellström hopes the 10,000 kronor handout will help give families “a good start”, and help defray the costs of expensive items such as strollers, car seats, and cribs.
The proposal would cost taxpayers about one billion kronor per year, but Sellström sees it as money well spent.
“From a national economic perspective, it’s money that we more than make back again, that’s something I’m convinced of,” Sellström told the newspaper.
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“There are simply too few children being born and that’s regrettable,” said Anders Sellström, a member of the Christian Democrats’ governing board, to the Svenksa Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.
Sellström also leads a working group within the party tasked with formulating a revised family policy ahead of the 2010 parliamentary elections.
According to figures from Statistics Sweden (SCB), 109,301 children were born in Sweden last year. But the Christian Democrats want to see that number increase.
“We want to find incentives and have looked at how it’s done in other countries. Many have some sort of baby bonus and society must send the signal that ‘We need more children,’” Sellström told SvD.
Sellström hopes the 10,000 kronor handout will help give families “a good start”, and help defray the costs of expensive items such as strollers, car seats, and cribs.
The proposal would cost taxpayers about one billion kronor per year, but Sellström sees it as money well spent.
“From a national economic perspective, it’s money that we more than make back again, that’s something I’m convinced of,” Sellström told the newspaper.
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