A few days after hearing the news that the government will eliminate, as of January 1, 2011, the 2,500-euro baby check that was offered for each child born in Spain, the first debates about it have already begun .
That if it was a measure to get votes, that if it served (or not) to promote birth, that if with that money you could catch a reduction in working hours, that if you could pay a respected birth at home, that if there are those who will He has spent traveling or buying a motorcycle, yes…
We are many fathers (well, mothers, who give it to them) who have received the mentioned baby check with the birth of one of our children and that is why I ask: What utility did you give to the 2,500 euros of the baby check?
Birth Promotion
Now that the aid disappears, there are many of us who think that the minimum support of the state to which we have children or we intend to have them disappears.
It is not that 2,500 euros are the key to say “Yes” or “No” to have a child, because nobody says “look honey, how do they give us 2,500 euros, why don't we have a child?” (Or so I think), but the fact of perceiving them did probably serve as a minimum support for those couples who, making numbers, did not see the possibility of being parents.
Fertility rates in Spain in 2008 were 1.46 children per woman of childbearing age, a figure far from the 2.1 children per couple who could guarantee the generational change and that only helps to ensure that society gets older every day. Now we are left without this help and that makes us the European country that gives less help to families.
Reductions in working hours or leave
The truth is that 2,500 euros are not a fortune either, however they could well serve for some mothers (or fathers, although it is more rare) lengthen the low maternal derision of 16 weeks in a couple of months (if we count 2,500 as a salary pair of 1,250 euros) or they took a reduction in working hours for about four or five months.
It is not easy to bear the weight of the family economy with a single salary and families who have decided to take leave of absence have received any help with open arms.
Give birth at home
For some time now, women have begun to claim prominence in an act as intimate and important as a birth. Many have decided to have their child in a way that is not instrumented, with time and respect to let nature act and with real capacity to make decisions, giving birth at home.
Birth at home is not subsidized by social security and these 2,500 euros are a great help to pay for the dream birth.
To the piggy bank
He baby check has been a universal help. It has been given to all mothers in Spain, regardless of their income level. This has meant that many families have received money that they really did not need and that they had put directly into the piggy bank, without devoting it to anything in particular.
This phenomenon has also been possible when the child born is the second and is the same sex as the first (as is my case), since when you have everything from the first child, there are hardly any expenses for the second.
For the baby stuff
Obviously, one of the most logical possibilities is that the baby check was destined to buy the baby's thingsBe it the furniture, the basket, the clothes, the diapers, etc. Having a baby can cost little or enough money according to the needs that are created for you, but of course, you have to live it to realize that you have spent the money on things you really didn't need.
Spend it on other things
Now that they have announced the elimination of the baby check, I have heard some future mother complain that "she had some planned works", I have seen families paying for their vacations with this money, buying a motorcycle, etc. (maybe you can give more similar examples).
And you, what utility did you give to the baby check?
It is unfortunate that Spain is the country that gives less help to families and it is unfortunate that it withdraws an aid that it began to give just three years ago (understanding that we are immersed in a major economic crisis and that the Government is forced to cut back on many areas).
Personally I doubt that 2,500 euros per child help Spain to increase the birth rate, in fact I doubt that they really help any couple as far as taking care of their child is concerned and it is likely that precisely because of this many people do not see the problem too serious. Withdrawal of the benefit ("what more they take away, if I know one who spent it on ..."), however it is still money that came very well to most families, was allocated for what It will go.
And you, What utility did you give to the baby check?
Photos | Flickr - tuppaware_001, nicolas.boullosa, jolien_vallins
In Babies and more | Advance childbirth to benefit from the baby check, The government eliminates the baby check, Aid for children in Spain, They study expanding aid for having children, The 2,500 euros of help to promote birth, are really insignificant
