The Minister of Solidarity highlights measures taken when François Hollande was President of the Republic to explain the birth rate currently at half mast. She assures that the number of babies born in France began to decline under her five-year term.
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Aurore Bergé assures that if the birth rate is currently at its lowest in France, it is because of the measures taken under the five-year term of François Hollande. “The reforms which were undertaken during the Hollande five-year term, which limited the family quotient, which reduced family allowances, insists the Minister of Solidarity, have an impact, because it is from this date that we see that there is a progressive decline in the birth rate.“
>> France recorded its lowest number of births in 2022 since the end of the Second World War
The decline in the birth rate which begins “from” François Hollande’s five-year term is false. To do this, simply look at the INSEE birth rate curve, that is to say the number of births in a year in relation to the population. This curve has been trending downward since the beginning of the 1970s. By zooming in on a more recent period, we realize that the first year which marks the start of a decline, after a certain stability, is the year 2011, therefore under the five-year term of Nicolas Sarkozy. François Hollande only entered the Elysée in 2012. Then, from François Hollande’s five-year term, the decline in the birth rate continued with just a small “peak” upwards in 2014. We are witnessing a decline also since 2017 when Emmanuel Macron became President of the Republic. To reach a “historic low”, which we talked about recently.
Limitation of family allowances for the wealthiest families
Has the limitation of family allowances had an impact on the birth rate, as Aurore Bergé also says? This is one of the demographers’ explanations. This limitation of allowances for the wealthiest families, effectively decided under François Hollande. Still, there are other explanations. For the year 2011, which marks the start of the dropout, we must remember that France was facing the aftermath of the financial crisis with high unemployment at that time, which did not encourage optimism.
The desire to have children depends on how we see the future. Demographers also point to the eco-anxiety caused in recent years by climate change, the long Covid crisis and, more recently, the war in Ukraine and the economic difficulties linked to soaring inflation.