Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Higher maternity benefits are not a solution to demographic problems, economist says

Photo: Ani Petrova

“The last National Assembly increased the monthly maternity benefits from 194 euro to 332 euro, and that is a populist move and does not stimulate the resolution of the demographic crisis,” Zornitsa Slavova from the Institute for Market Economics said for the BNR. “The result is paradoxical – in the poorer regions of the country women will receive more money as maternity benefits than they would if they work,” she said.

According to economists, maternity benefits are no solution to the real problems families have, because they do not come during the period when the child is cared for at home, but after that.

“People would be willing to have children if they feel they have more security throughout the entire period of caring for a child, not during the first or the second year,” Zornitsa Slavova says. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

2024 Human of the Year awards to be presented

The annual human rights awards Human of the Year will be presented for the seventeenth time at a ceremony today. The event takes place on the eve of International Human Rights Day - 10 December. The awards have no monetary value. Their purpose is to..

published on 12/8/24 10:17 PM

Bulgarian university students celebrate their holiday

8 December is the day on which Bulgarian university students traditionally celebrate their holidays. The holiday is very popular in Bulgaria and often brings together not only current but also former students. The day was first celebrated in 1903..

published on 12/8/24 12:16 PM

In spicy times, our Christmas is also hot

Spicy means culture and Alexander Kyurkchiev - Sando, founder of a chilli pepper farm near Sofia and the first chilli pepper museum in this country, is sure of this. For the second year in a row he is organizing the Sofia Chilli Fest..

published on 12/7/24 8:55 AM