This makes sense in Europe, where they have a negative growth rate. But it's kind of bizarre here...
Looks like Hillary Clinton is pulling a Bruno Kreisky (note: most powerful Social Democratic Austrian chancellor in the 1970s) who introduced "birth allowance" valued at then 8.000 Schilling for every child born. Inflation-adjusted this would mean about 1.000-1.500€ (=1.500-2.000 $) nowadays per child. This was substituted in 1997 with "maternity allowance" and additional forms of child and family benefits. Basically, if you are a 7-month pregnant woman in Austria, you are banned from working about 8 weeks before your calculated birth date and you´ll get your whole net income until 8 weeks after the birth of your child. By then you normally applied for additionally family and child benefits, so that you are getting between 500-1000€ a month in benefits - 3 years long.
Back to Socialist Kreisky: Did the "child allowance" he introduced in the mid 70s bring any good for the number of births ? Well, it was so-so. The Austrian birth rate hit a record 1.9% in the early 60s and steadily declined afterwards to 1.2% in the mid 70s. Between 1975 (implementation) and 1997 (substitution) the birth rate just declined to 1.1%, with a slight upward trend in the early 80s and early 90s, just to reach record lows from 2000-2006. Kreisky was blamed by conservatives for skyrocketing the national debt during his time in power, but was seen as a huge freedom fighter for Social Rights in Austria. One of his most famous slogans was:
"I would prefer the state to run up high debts rather than see people become unemployed."Where does Austria stand now ?
The national debt is declining for years now, from 70% of GDP to less than 60% now (mainly achieved by skilled conservative finance minister Karl-Heinz-Grasser), the unemployment rate is rather low (4% -> OECD calculated rate) and the budget will be balanced in a few years. Yet 1 problem remains: The birth rate remains low. But is it bad ? Hell, no. There are plenty people on this planet for selective skilled immigration.
