Kaczynski and his party are fooling themselves if they think the "social safety net" is compatible with larger families and Catholic values. How many socialist Western countries have a replacement-level birthrate? None, as far as I know.
Maybe, maybe not. Take a look at the chart again: for the last three decades, French fertility rates have been undulating in a rather narrow range below replacement level. Swedish fertility peaked 15 years ago, with a slight uptick in the last few years. "Recovering" seems like an overstatement.
Even these small gains come after those governments offered substantial incentives for women to have additional children: long maternity leaves, forcing employers to adopt "family-friendly" work policies, weeks and weeks of vacation, cash payments, etc. And still they can't maintain their own population.
The problem isn't a lack of statism. People don't want to have kids when they are squeezed into tiny apartments, pay staggering amounts of taxes, and shell out exorbitant prices for food and other consumer goods.
Most of all, France and Sweden have driven religion out of their public life almost entirely. When God is driven out, lots of things can take their place, but Western Europe has mostly chosen irresponsible hedonism. Hedonists don't make good parents.
Also, note where Poland's fertility rate has been going.
Kaczynski and his party are fooling themselves if they think the "social safety net" is compatible with larger families and Catholic values. How many socialist Western countries have a replacement-level birthrate? None, as far as I know.
While none has reached replacement level, fertility rates in France and Sweden are recovering.
Maybe, maybe not. Take a look at the chart again: for the last three decades, French fertility rates have been undulating in a rather narrow range below replacement level. Swedish fertility peaked 15 years ago, with a slight uptick in the last few years. "Recovering" seems like an overstatement.
Even these small gains come after those governments offered substantial incentives for women to have additional children: long maternity leaves, forcing employers to adopt "family-friendly" work policies, weeks and weeks of vacation, cash payments, etc. And still they can't maintain their own population.
The problem isn't a lack of statism. People don't want to have kids when they are squeezed into tiny apartments, pay staggering amounts of taxes, and shell out exorbitant prices for food and other consumer goods.
Most of all, France and Sweden have driven religion out of their public life almost entirely. When God is driven out, lots of things can take their place, but Western Europe has mostly chosen irresponsible hedonism. Hedonists don't make good parents.
Also, note where Poland's fertility rate has been going.