Greece offers cash benefits, tax breaks to reverse falling birthrate

Greece outlined measures to boost its lagging birthrate on Thursday, from vouchers and childcare benefits to tax breaks for new parents, although experts questioned the plan's effectiveness.

Greece has one of Europe's lowest fertility rates, a dire demographic state driven by a decade-long economic crisis, emigration and changed attitudes among the young. The prime minister has called it a national threat and a "ticking time bomb" for pensions.

It currently spends around one billion euros a year on pro-child measures. Yet it recorded its lowest ever number of births in 2022.

The measures outlined on Thursday by the family, interior, finance and health ministries include tax relief for new parents, daycare vouchers, a rise in the minimum wage from 2025, pension increases and social contribution reductions.

But demography experts and even government...