Madrid, Spain, Feb 29, 2008 / 15:08 pm
An upcoming report by the Institute for Family Policy in Spain warns that “the two main national parties,” the Popular Party (PP) and the Spanish Socialist Worker Party (PSOE) have ignored the problems of the family and the birth rate in their election campaigns.
“The birth rate will continue to be an unresolved issue during the next legislature, since the two main national parties—the PP and the PSOE—have ignored it in their respective election campaigns,” the report asserts.
The Institute said politicians have failed to address the relationship between the lack of aid for families and the low birth rate, despite the demographic winter Spain is experiencing.
The report indicates that measures taken by the Socialist government have been insufficient, consisting merely in raising the non-taxable, combined income per year from $16,693 to $22,700 per couple. 80% of families in Spain are not affected by such a measure, the Institute says.