Those crazy French...first they provide free, high-quality childcare AND healthcare... for all children! Imagine! And now they have the gall to PAY their citizens to spendmore time with their children. Why, if you read below, they even had a national conference on families! Geez, what'll they think of next?

So where do I sign up? Is this what happens in countries where they spend their money on infrastructure and not war? If the French are losers, I'll gladly paste a big L on my forehead, 'cause this sounds smart to me. And no, I certainly wouldn't mind paying a lot more in taxes if I could get childcare, healthcare, free education through university, and a government that acts to *help* parents instead of just yammering meaninglessly about "family values", which mostly seem to mean ignorance, hatred and bigotry. Newsflash...those aren't MY family values.

Too bad I didn't go through with that green card marriage to Stephan when I was 23. I could have been amicably divorced with EU citizenship years ago. Drat. Oh well.
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September 22,2005 | PARIS -- France announced financial incentives Thursday for parents to have a third child, hoping to boost its fertility rate by helping people to better juggle the demands of work and family life.

A new measure will award $916 a month to parents who take one year's unpaid leave from work after the birth of a third child, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced at the close of a national conference on families.

It will take effect in July 2006. De Villepin said he believed the measure will appeal to 'numerous parents' and allow for a 'better reconciliation of professional and family rhythms.'

'We must do more to allow French families to have as many children as they want,' the prime minister said.

France's fertility rate, at an average of 1.9 children per woman, is the second highest in Europe after Ireland's, around 2. But it is still below the 2.07 level needed to prevent population decline.

The European Union average is around 1.5, dropping to less than 1.3 in some countries, including Greece, Spain, Italy and the new EU member nations in Eastern Europe where fertility rates dropped precipitously after the collapse of communism. Some experts fear that the decline in fertility rates across the continent could have far-reaching economic and social consequences.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.