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http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/014-48121-033-02-06-902-20090203IPR48120-02-02-2009-2009-false/default_en.htm

 

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT URGES MEMBER STATES

TO FULFIL THEIR GOALS ON CHILDCARE

Women’s Rights/Equal Opportunities - 03-02-2009

_____________________________________________________________

 

http://www.blnz.com/news/2009/01/13/France_leads_Europe_birth_rates_7954.html

 

France - State-provided child care and family support payments are well-established while labour laws provide for generous maternity and parental leaves, encouraging young couples to become parents.

FRANCE LEADS EUROPE IN BIRTH RATES

Family Support Benefits Noted

AFP - Jan 12, 2009

France cemented its status as Europe's fertility champion on Tuesday when fresh statistics showed women are having on average more than two children each, an increase from last year's birth rate.

The second most populous country in the European Union after Germany, France began 2009 with 64.3 million inhabitants, 366,500 more than in 2008, according to the national statistics agency INSEE.

While there are fewer women of child-bearing age in France, the birth rate has continued to climb, with 2.02 children on average born to every woman in 2008, up from 1.98 in 2007.

Last year, more than 800,000 babies were born in France, the highest number in three decades, confirming the success of the country's family-friendly policies.

State-provided child care and family support payments are well-established while labour laws provide for generous maternity and parental leaves, encouraging young couples to become parents.

The average European birth rate is 1.5 children, with France and Ireland at the top of the fertility list.

Like in many other western countries, French women are having babies later in life, starting usually at age 30, nearly two years later than in the 1980s.

Birth rates are up in the 30-40 age group and more than one in five babies were born last year to a woman over the age of 35. In 1998, older women accounted for only 16.5 percent of births.

Since 2006, more babies are born out of wedlock in France and the trend is continuing. Some 52 percent of newborns were born to unmarried couples in 2008, a full 10 percent more than in 1998.

Longevity in France remains high with men living on average until the ripe old age of 77.5 while women usually make it to their 84th birthday.

Despite the baby boom, France has an ageing population in line with other developed countries. Almost nine percent of the French population is over 75.

Fewer than one in four (24.9 percent) French citizens are under the age of 20, a slight drop from 2007 when they accounted for a quarter of the population.





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