The unstoppable fall in births is forcing governments to put in place creative incentives to contain the aging of societies, with all the attendant economic and social consequences.

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The turnaround in pro-birth policies comes in the wake of the low numbers of newborns. Hence the urgency of providing communities with environments conducive to the development of motherhood and fatherhood, creating a set of measures for the progress of families and the raising of their children.

Puerto Rico is no stranger to this phenomenon. As reported in a report in El Nuevo Día, the decrease in births has reached its most critical point. Last year, 18,085 babies were born, the lowest figure in the centennial existence of the Demographic Registry. An additional factor to the obstacles to promoting the birth rate has been the constant emigration of young families. Demographic changes, in the opinion of local specialists, imply low economic development, since there will be fewer students, consumers and people of productive age.

Demographer Judith Rodríguez has rightly argued that Puerto Rico does not have a generational replacement, since the fertility rate - the average number of children a person has at the end of his or her reproductive period - was 0.7 in 2023, far from 2.1, which is the correct figure.

In the United States, pro-birth movements are disorganized, lack political unity, lack cohesive lobbying power, and differ in their motivations, according to an analysis by The New York Times. This messy landscape is compounded by President Donald Trump’s bitter battle against immigration. The U.S. population increased by nearly 1.0% between 2023 and 2024, totaling 340 million people, according to the Census Bureau. This record growth, after 0.2% in 2011, was driven thanks to an increase in net international immigration.

Another country that has managed to halt the decline in its demographics is South Korea, which went from a fertility rate of 0.72 to 0.76. One of the supports is the granting of a cash bonus per child born of $275 per month (rising to $457 in 2025) during the first year, along with a prenatal bonus of $1,827 to the mother, among other incentives. One private insurer even offers its employees, regardless of gender, $75,000 each time they have a child.

The Madrid City Council intends to promote a plan that will serve as a model for other jurisdictions in Spain. To this end, it has set aside a budget of $770 million to provide direct aid for births, in addition to other investments in housing for families with children under the age of one, tax credits and more nursery schools. Rewards will also be given to companies that support the birth rate.

In addition to cash incentives, several countries have increased maternity leave to 16 weeks in France and 18 weeks in Chile, for example. In Japan, working hours have been made more flexible, and Switzerland favors the arrival of professional immigrants.

All these good initiatives respond to political needs and agreements, since they require abundant fiscal resources. It is clear that the increase in births has become an emergency that must be addressed with effective strategies and creative plans adapted to each reality.

Puerto Rico needs a great agreement between the government and the private sector. The diagnostic stage does not require further analysis. If the birth rate continues to fall, we will be left with empty schools, universities with a shortage of enrollment, federal funds reduced by a low population, an absence of people of working age and, above all, without the wonder of seeing the future Puerto Ricans called to sustain our destiny come into the world.

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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.