Vilnius: Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda is proposing a package of tax breaks and social measures aimed at raising the country’s birth rate to 1.5 children per woman, Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) reported on Tuesday.
Vaidas Augustinavicius, Nauseda’s Chief Advisor on economic and social policy, said the target is ambitious but necessary amid a sharp demographic downturn.
“The President emphasizes that it is very important to reduce the decline in the birth rate, or at least to stop it, as we have seen a huge drop over the last few years. And if possible, even to increase it,” Augustinavicius said, Xinhua News Agency reported.
“We had a discussion with sociologists that if this indicator were to increase from 1.1-1.2 to 1.5, it could be a benchmark for what we should be aiming for. Of course, this is difficult to change.”
Under the president’s proposal, families with two or more children would pay zero income tax for five years following the birth of each additional child. Nauseda also suggests introducing income tax incentives for employers who hire parents from larger families.
Additional measures under consideration include establishing a social insurance base for young families to cover pregnancy and maternity leave, exploring the option of reimbursing part of tuition costs after the birth of a child, and granting families with children access to rent-to-buy housing through expanded municipal housing programs in regional areas.
Augustinavicius said recent trends suggest that young people in Lithuania are not rejecting parenthood altogether but are delaying family plans. “The president sees that the birth rate has been declining for several years, with a particularly sharp decline after 2022.
The International Monetary Fund reported in October that Lithuania faces mounting demographic pressure driven by low birthrates and years of negative migration. Between 1998 and 2019, the working-age population fell from 2.34 million to 1.81 million, though it edged up to 1.89 million in 2024.
The European Union’s total fertility rate fell to 1.38 in 2023, down from 1.46 the previous year and far below the replacement level of 2.1. Malta had the bloc’s lowest rate at 1.06, followed by Spain at 1.12. Lithuania’s rate stood at 1.18
(IANS)
