End of the Polish baby boom?

In 2009 over 419,000 children were born, while in 2010 that number had dropped to 413,000.

In fertility terms, Poland currently holds 209th place out of a ranking of 223 countries across the world. The daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna warns that the long-term consequences to Poland’s pension scheme may be dire if the birth-rate does not increase soon.

Apart from ongoing economic pressures thanks to the global financial crisis, the daily writes that Poland is in need of an effective pro-family policy, including the better organisation of pre-schooling and childcare.

“The state should wake up and work out that efforts are needed to be undertaken now, and not put off for later,” Irena Kotowska, a demographer from the Warsaw School of Economics told the daily. (jb)