Eternity RPC Board
08-09-2017, 04:33 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-09-2017, 03:39 PM by millerainia.)
The Daily Courier
Amid record-low Birth Rates, Millerainia to Encourage Childbearing and Family-Making
![[Image: Brittany.jpg]](http://www.seiu200united.org/files/2014/10/Brittany.jpg)
PM Sweet talks with Women For Purple, a pro-family leave association in Wildbourne
WILDBOURNE -- Millerainia is facing an epidemic, as it is characterized by the Helen Sweet- run Executive Ministry. This epidemic is not a sickness or disease, however, it is the low birthrate of Millerainian women. Millerainia's birth-rate has been a topic of debate over the past few years in Parliament and in the general public. Raising the birth rate was one of Helen Sweet's election promises. According to the Ministry of Health, Centre for Population and Disease, Millerainia's birth rate has hit its lowest rate, 1.61 children per woman.
With over 70% of Millerainians living in urban areas, 60% having received some form of higher education, especially women achieving higher levels than in the past, it is not surprising that the birth rate has diminished in the Rising Sun country. However, this coupled This has happened over the past 60 years in many developed nations, like Nyland, Oslanberg and Laurentian Kingdom, all reporting lower birth rates. However, researchers at Wildbourne Institute of Technology (WIT), reported that all those nations leveled off, while Millerainia's has decreased quicker, despite the presence of immigration. Researchers normally point to homogeneous populations, like Laurentian Kingdom's, as being case for quicker birth rate reductions.
However, Millerainia has seen record-low immigration rates, something that researchers are still unsure of cause. Additionally, the median age of Millerainians has risen to 40 years old, caused by the lowest death rate in Millerainian history. This is directly as result of advances in healthcare, vaccinations and other disease prevention.
WIT researchers also point to the urbanist policies enacted in the 1550's that encouraged compact and urban population centers as opposed to the former suburban-preference city planning policies. These laws gave fewer building permits outside of designated Urban Growth Regions (UGR's), which forced urban centers to grow and decreased the size of the average Millerainian dwelling by 100 square metres. WIT professor Dr. Thomas Gregarry explained that, "housing size has been seen to directly correlate with fertility, birth-rates and family sizes."
With such a low birth rate, Millerainia could see a decrease in tax-payers, increase in dependents over the pension age (72 nationwide), and sky-rocketing health costs to Millerainia's single-payer public healthcare system.
Access to contraception in Millerainia is wide and free to all citizens, as are family planning services. However, the Millerainian government has decided to take further steps to encourage young people to make the leap into parenthood.
PM Helen Sweet announced the creation of the Purposeful Family Program (commonly known as the Purple Plan) by the Ministry of Health. This program will encourage citizens, aged 18 to 36, and living in households making over $40k [MDX] ($50k in high cost-of-living postal codes) and less than $200k a year, to have children by providing hefty tax breaks for the first 16 years of a child's life. Additionally, qualifying individuals will receive vouchers for low-cost childcare and pre-Kindergarten programmes. Lower wage Millerainians already receive financial and tax assistance for children born, and childcare is offered for free.
Further, is the creation of family-leave laws that promise more lengthy leave for not only birth-mothers, but for fathers, adoptive parents, and surrogates. The law will raise from the mandatory 9 months (post birth) and 2 months pre-birth leave to 13 months post-birth and 3 months pre-birth pregnancy leave across the board. Workplaces will be free and encouraged to offer even longer post-birth family leaves, however will have to maintain the new minimum leave times. Discrimination against Expecting Parents in employment is illegal in Millerainia, with a maximum sentence of $30 million in fines (or 5% of a company's reported holdings, which ever is higher) and 5 years in a federal penitentiary per incidence of discrimination.
PM Sweet believes that these measures will ensure that young people are producing children in households that can encourage strong family units, those that can afford to support a child and have proved to be contributing to Millerainian society and economy. She hopes that within the next 6 years, the birthrate can be raised at least 0.2 children per woman.
Amid record-low Birth Rates, Millerainia to Encourage Childbearing and Family-Making
PM Sweet talks with Women For Purple, a pro-family leave association in Wildbourne
WILDBOURNE -- Millerainia is facing an epidemic, as it is characterized by the Helen Sweet- run Executive Ministry. This epidemic is not a sickness or disease, however, it is the low birthrate of Millerainian women. Millerainia's birth-rate has been a topic of debate over the past few years in Parliament and in the general public. Raising the birth rate was one of Helen Sweet's election promises. According to the Ministry of Health, Centre for Population and Disease, Millerainia's birth rate has hit its lowest rate, 1.61 children per woman.
With over 70% of Millerainians living in urban areas, 60% having received some form of higher education, especially women achieving higher levels than in the past, it is not surprising that the birth rate has diminished in the Rising Sun country. However, this coupled This has happened over the past 60 years in many developed nations, like Nyland, Oslanberg and Laurentian Kingdom, all reporting lower birth rates. However, researchers at Wildbourne Institute of Technology (WIT), reported that all those nations leveled off, while Millerainia's has decreased quicker, despite the presence of immigration. Researchers normally point to homogeneous populations, like Laurentian Kingdom's, as being case for quicker birth rate reductions.
However, Millerainia has seen record-low immigration rates, something that researchers are still unsure of cause. Additionally, the median age of Millerainians has risen to 40 years old, caused by the lowest death rate in Millerainian history. This is directly as result of advances in healthcare, vaccinations and other disease prevention.
WIT researchers also point to the urbanist policies enacted in the 1550's that encouraged compact and urban population centers as opposed to the former suburban-preference city planning policies. These laws gave fewer building permits outside of designated Urban Growth Regions (UGR's), which forced urban centers to grow and decreased the size of the average Millerainian dwelling by 100 square metres. WIT professor Dr. Thomas Gregarry explained that, "housing size has been seen to directly correlate with fertility, birth-rates and family sizes."
With such a low birth rate, Millerainia could see a decrease in tax-payers, increase in dependents over the pension age (72 nationwide), and sky-rocketing health costs to Millerainia's single-payer public healthcare system.
Access to contraception in Millerainia is wide and free to all citizens, as are family planning services. However, the Millerainian government has decided to take further steps to encourage young people to make the leap into parenthood.
PM Helen Sweet announced the creation of the Purposeful Family Program (commonly known as the Purple Plan) by the Ministry of Health. This program will encourage citizens, aged 18 to 36, and living in households making over $40k [MDX] ($50k in high cost-of-living postal codes) and less than $200k a year, to have children by providing hefty tax breaks for the first 16 years of a child's life. Additionally, qualifying individuals will receive vouchers for low-cost childcare and pre-Kindergarten programmes. Lower wage Millerainians already receive financial and tax assistance for children born, and childcare is offered for free.
Further, is the creation of family-leave laws that promise more lengthy leave for not only birth-mothers, but for fathers, adoptive parents, and surrogates. The law will raise from the mandatory 9 months (post birth) and 2 months pre-birth leave to 13 months post-birth and 3 months pre-birth pregnancy leave across the board. Workplaces will be free and encouraged to offer even longer post-birth family leaves, however will have to maintain the new minimum leave times. Discrimination against Expecting Parents in employment is illegal in Millerainia, with a maximum sentence of $30 million in fines (or 5% of a company's reported holdings, which ever is higher) and 5 years in a federal penitentiary per incidence of discrimination.
PM Sweet believes that these measures will ensure that young people are producing children in households that can encourage strong family units, those that can afford to support a child and have proved to be contributing to Millerainian society and economy. She hopes that within the next 6 years, the birthrate can be raised at least 0.2 children per woman.