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11 Sivan 5760 - June 14, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Opinion & Comment
The More Children the Better

by Mordecai Plaut

The Knesset plenum gave a preliminary approval to a proposal of UTJ MK Rabbi Shmuel Halpert to link the children's grants distributed by the National Insurance Institute (NII -- Bituach Leumi) to the average wage rather than the cost of living. Every other grant distributed by the government is linked to the average wage, which rises faster than the cost of living in good times, on the principle that these are income supplements and should keep pace with rising national income. At the beginning of the current year, for example, most grants rose more than six percent while the NII grants rose only 1.3%.

Efforts to bolster the government's support of large families are met with opposition and even open hostility from anti- religious MKs who see it as a religious issue which they oppose on principle.

They would do well to rethink their opposition -- and the State of Israel should rethink its approach as well. After 52 years, the State of Israel still has a cabinet minister in charge of immigration while those who advocate aid to large families are thought of as representing narrow, sectorial interests. It is as if in the economic sphere there were a minister in charge of imports while those who want to encourage local production are accused of pushing their own agenda. The reality is that it is always better to produce your own needs.

People are a real need for a modern society, aside from our own consideration of the infinite value of human life. Social observers are identifying disturbing trends that show what problems low birthrates will cause.

If the countries of Europe merely want to keep their populations at their 1995 levels, according to current trends, they will have to import 35 million immigrants over the next 25 years. That is over 1.5 million a year! Germany alone will need 14 million new residents -- about 500,000 a year.

These figures only account for preserving the absolute levels. In fact, the local population on Europe will age considerably, meaning that a larger and larger number of retired Europeans will have to be supported by a smaller and smaller number of working Europeans. If they want to have as many working Europeans relative to the overall population as today, Europe will have to import four times as many workers: 135 million!

The situation in Japan is worse. The official government projections show that the population will tumble from 126 million today to 100 million in 2050. By 2100 Japan will have only 67 million residents. And these are optimistic numbers that assume that Japanese fertility will rise gently. If it stays the same, the population falls to 92 million in 50 years and 50 million in 100 years.

Japan is working to encourage its people to have more children with financial incentives. Israel should do no less. Even if its situation is not that serious, it is significantly due to the high birth rate of the chareidim.

Those who have children are not doing it for themselves. They do it for the children themselves, and they benefit the entire community. Without children, a community has no future. Children are the most important and fundamental expression of the commitment -- and hope -- for the future.


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