Chisinau - The Republic of Moldova is affected by serious demographic issues: an ageing population, labour migration and low fertility rates. For these reasons the number of people in the country is shrinking every year. In this situation, it may look reasonable to introduce incentives for pregnant women and extend maternity leave. But, how appropriate such a solution be?

The experience of countries like Russia and Ukraine shows that in the long-term these measures do not work. Expensive for the state budget, they also increase the number of families who link the decision to have children to receiving financial support from the Government. Evidence also shows that with every child born in a family struggling with poverty, the precarious situation worsens.

Another way of increasing the population is reducing access to contraception. France and Ukraine’s experience, however, proves that this measure is not effective. With a 75% use of modern contraceptive methods, France’s population is growing by 0.5% every year, and the fertility rate is at 2.0. For comparison, Ukraine, with a much lower modern contraceptive use of 48%, has a fertility rate of only 1.5 and experiences an annual population decline of 0.5%.

The best inspiration for Moldova could come from Estonia and Poland: these countries have a shorter but better paid parental leave, when parents receive up to 100% of the previous salary.

This solutions were discussed during the first meeting of the International Advisory Panel on Population and Development, created by the UNFPA to support countries from Eastern Europe and Central Asia in strengthening their demographic policies in response to population dynamics. Moldova is the first country to benefit from such expertise.

The article first appeared in the UN Moldova Magazine.