Ten policies for addressing the demographic problem in our country was given by the Minister of State ‘Akis Skrtsos In his greeting, representing the Prime Minister at the conference «Demographic 2025». In the same address, on the other hand, the minister also cited international evidence, and approached the issue through a philosophical look.
In detail, ‘we are in front of a paradox repeated in every developed country: called’the demographic paradox of prosperity“What does this mean in practice? How does income, economic stability and life expectancy increase, first and foremost in the Western world, so does the desire – or the ability of people – to bring children to the world. And this is not only a Greek phenomenon. It is a global, with particular intensity in our name and our country. They mobilize everyone and everyone to discuss, plan and decide what we can do better and more, “he said.
Beyond that, he focused on Greece, noting that “for the first time in its history our country has a competent ministerial structure for demographics, for family support but also a long -term national plan prepared and approved by 2024 to address the demographic issue. Twenty billion euros, about two billion a year, have been committed to supporting families for the next decade. “
At this point of his greeting, the Akis Skrtsos He made a bracket, noting that “in the last ten years, the five richest countries in the world -Luxembourg, the Switzerland, or Ireland, or Norway and the Singapore- Based on per capita income, that is, from $ 90 to $ 135,000 a year per person per year, they have all recorded a constant decline in markers in births. “
So did he ask the question, “does the comfort of the modern lifestyle create an invisible anxiety? Is insecure not only economic but existential? The absence of meaning, the disconnection from the community, the ubiquitous fear of climate change that turns into a climate crisis by threatening future generations, narcissistic individualism … all of this compose a landscape in which childbirth is treated as an additional anxiety. “
Consequently, “Greece, then, is no exception, but part of a bigger phenomenon. And we have to react not only with economic measures, but with a new cultural narrative that reappears to life, care, bonds. THE Carl Popper He had said that “optimism is a moral duty”. Hope is not a feeling -it is a stance in a world that is becoming increasingly complex and difficult. Not because we are sure we will do it, but because only if we believe we can, we will have the slightest chance of achieving it, “was the Minister of State’s approach. Given this, “perhaps, primarily on the demographic issue, our biggest responsibility is to build a world where hope returns -where young people will not feel that they are growing up to survive, but to create.”
In the end, “if the demographic problem is the visible peak of the iceberg, its root is on our inner removal from the concept of” enough “. We have learned to live for the “more”, not for the “enough” and the “best”, “the Minister of State said.
And, asking the well -known question, “why did our parents and grandparents, having much less amenities, money or state support made much more children?” So the answer to the problem we are concerned with cannot be another numerical goal. The answer is the measure. “
According to A. Skertso, “We need policies that support families, yes -but also a new cultural narrative, where motherhood and paternity, positive parentalitycreativity, care and ecological balance to be acts of moral wealth and meaning for life. It is not just a matter of financial capacity or state support. It is mainly a matter of worldview, culture, priorities. We have to talk more and louder about the miracle of life and experience to have children. “
And, in a completely personal tone, “I regret that we only had one older child with my wife. In our attempt to accumulate skills, knowledge, professional experiences, we left behind the acquisition of our son, the one who eventually made us happier, complete and happy than anything else we have done or succeed in our lives so far. And that is what parents have to say. “
Recognizing, “the average person does not reject family creation only because he has no resources -but because he feels he has no time, space, community, a sense of purpose and support. He does not see structures around him that encourage him to belong and continue to do what he wants and dreams, “he continued, quoting” what we can do most and what we already do as a state:
1) National strategy for the major housing problem we face. More than 40 meters reaching 7 billion euros and aim to stimulate both real estate and support income of both tenants and old property owners. One and a half million tenants will receive support through a return of a rent.
2) Special tax incentives for the repatriation of thousands of Greeks and Greeks who left the country in times of crisis.
3) Active employment policies to balance professional with family life and the fairer distribution of burdens between father and mother. With special licenses, maternity support benefits that cumulatively exceed 10,000 euros for the first 9 months.
4) Emphasis for the first time on public health, primary care, prevention and treatment of long -term diseases. We live longer but we have to live better. The quality of life of all ages can be significantly improved by the free diagnostic examinations implemented by the government for the first time.
5) New care and support policies vulnerable to new challenges and threats. Such as the strategy for violence of minors or digital addiction but also the national structure network to tackle domestic violence. We give modern tools to Greek families that help protect children.
6) Priority in increasing the employment of young people, women, people with disabilities and pensioners to fill gaps in the labor market, as well as funding increasing needs in the health system by a growing population.
7) Focus on controlled immigration so that Greece will finally become a country where we choose which and how many immigrants we need, with skills and in what activities and areas of the country. Greece is not a vineyard and must invest even more at the safe border to prevent illegal immigration but also in bilateral agreements to encourage legal, where necessary.
8) Politics for our common home, the environment and the regional cohesion. Our economic policy is based on the principles of sustainability, circular economy, respect for the precious and unique natural and cultural environment of our country. We support growth with projects of over € 60 billion across the country so that Greece is not only Athens and we get away from the Athinocentric Development Model.
9) Conflict with the deep state of the decency and the absence of evaluation of structures, services and employees. The state must finally serve citizens instead of its employees. And this is what we do with steady and bold steps forward.
10) And finally, the continuation of the economic policy that is firmly on fiscal responsibility, produces safe surpluses, dynamic growth rates and attracting more and better investments. Our country should never live a painful and degrading bankruptcy like that of the past decade that deprived the dream of the younger generations of Greeks. “
The answer, the Minister of State concluded, is “complex as the problem itself. It is not only in the numbers or allowances. It is in the way we live. We need to think and work together – with optimism – in this direction, “he concluded.
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