The German media recently focused on the demographic issue in Poland, pointing out that a record number of children are being born on the east bank of the Oder River, despite the fact that the Law and Justice government has a very extensive social assistance program develops and promotes traditional family values.
Dw.com reports that the German media is wondering about the causes of low fertility in Poland. The portal indicates that the weekly “Der Spiegel” has noticed the efforts of the Polish government to promote the traditional family model, and yet Polish women have few children.
German “care”
The national-conservative government in Poland loves family. Yet fewer and fewer women want to have children. Why?
– asks in the latest issue of Der Spiegel magazine.
According to Dw.com, there are not many cases of countries in the world where the rulers so strongly emphasize traditional values and support pro-family policies, while at the same time the country faces serious demographic problems.
The German “Der Spiegel” published statistics on the natural increase in Poland, proving that the number of births in our country has fallen to a record low since the Second World War. According to this data, the German fertility rate is 1.58, the French 1.84 and Poland 1.33.
Fear of women?
The journalists of “Der Spiegel” noted in a manner typical of the German media that Polish families, and thus decisions about having children, were very strongly ideologized in the “National Catholic” spirit. According to the newspaper, this conservative and anti-abortion attitude of the ruling party discourages Polish families from having children.
Women are afraid of getting pregnant because abortion is illegal
– reported the journalists of “Der Spiegel”.
As happens in similar analyzes of foreign media, there was also a figure from Poland who politely confirmed the German opinion on this matter. prof. Irena Kotowska of the Warsaw School of Economics, which deals with econometrics and demography, confirmed the assumptions of “Mirror”.
Politics has created an atmosphere that restricts women’s rights and needs. This affects the willingness to have children
– rated the Polish scientist.
Transformation and in vitro
According to Prof. Kotowska, in addition to Polish women’s alleged fear of Poland’s “National Catholic” social policies, decisions about reproduction in our country are also influenced by the “shock of transformation”, which has not been overcome so far. The political and economic transformation of the early 1990s and the ensuing sense of social insecurity left its mark on the generation of 20 and 30 year olds of the time.
Of course, after uttering these few reasonable words of truth, Prof. Kotowska once again returned to the issue of the alleged “ideologisation” of the family by the current Polish government.
Politicians have to think about why people can’t realize their life plans, why they don’t have children. But instead of removing obstacles, the government is focusing on defending the ideology of the perfect family
said the SGH scientist.
According to her, one of the main problems faced by Polish working-age couples is the lack of state support for the in vitro program, the lack of places in kindergartens and the inability to take into account the role of the father.
“Tacierzyński”
Dw.com points to the words of Prof. Kotowska, which associates women’s decision to become pregnant with the possibility of an easy return to the labor market and with a family model in which the father of the child provides greater support to the mother, which is directly related to the so-called paternity leave. According to Kotowska, despite the extension of paternity to nine weeks, Polish men do not decide to exercise their right in this regard.
“Der Spiegel also noted in its pages that the 500-plus program failed to stop Poland’s negative demographic trend. According to the weekly, PiS has even stopped promoting this program as a benefit aimed at increasing the fertility rate, and has begun to formulate its redistributive nature.
The tender concern of Germans about Polish demography is very touching. Perhaps, however, the Germans would do more to create better conditions for demographic growth in Poland if they paid reparations that could be used to combat this unfavorable trend. After all, there is no doubt that the German occupation in the Second World War left the biggest mark on the Polish demography in our country
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pn/dw.com
Source: wPolityce