In an effort to encourage families to have children, the Greek government has started handing out an allowance of 2000 euros for the birth of every child.
The measure, which came into effect at the beginning of this year, is designed to boost the birth rate in Greece.
The Greek government has initiated a reward system that will see the parents of newborn babies being given a €2000 baby bonus in an attempt to reverse the country’s demographic decline, with 36% of the country expected to be over the age of 65 by 2050.
In 1970, just 7% of Greeks were in that age bracket, but with estimates suggesting Greece could lose one-third of its 10.7 million population in the next thirty years, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is taking affirmative action now.
In 2016, the birth rate was 8.5 percent per 1000 people, while the death rate sat at 11.2 percent per 1000 people.
The latest attempt to reverse that trend is expected to cost 180 million euros per annum, with the baby bonus scheme being open to both EU citizens and non-EU residents.
In addition to the 2000 euro baby bonus, the government will also be addressing issues with nurseries and upgrading them in the next few months.
Already this year, the government has been forced into announcing the closure of 14 playschools and nine primary schools in the Attica region ad over 1,700 schools closed nationwide between 2009 and 2014.
