Spain´s government has adopted a pro-natal policy, encouraging couples to have babies by giving each newborn a check for € 2,500. If the baby is born to a family with three or more children, that amount is raised to € 3,500.

President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced the policy and then transmitted to the Parliament that “In order to continue progressing Spain needs more families with more children. And families need more aid to have more babies and more resources for their upbringing.”

In only 30 years, Spanish average family has dropped from 3.8 members to 2.9. Today, two and a half million Spanish people live alone. There are now only about 1.7 million large Spanish families –with three or more children- and the number is steadily decreasing.

There are, however, some problems with the new policy. In the first place, given that it costs over € 100,000 to raise a child to adulthood in Spain, the 2,500 payment may not be sufficient to encourage more childbearing. The head of the Consumers Association of Spain, Juan Moreno, has said that the amount offered by the government is “insignificant”.

Also, Spain spends less on family and childhood programs than any other country in the EU: they only account for 0.7 % of Spain´s GNP, while in Europe as a whole the average is 2.1 %. Moreover, the abortion rates in Spain are significantly high. Abortion is legal in Spain only for cases of rape, “fetal defect” and danger to the mother´s physical and psychological health. At present, one in every six pregnancies ends in abortion. Every day, 252 abortions are done in Spain, for an average of 11 each hour.

These issues will probably need address from the government. The idea and the project is, however, ambitious and serious. Spain is the one of the European countries that contributes the most to fertility studies, and it is the country with the most couples wanting to be assisted in having family with the newest available methods.