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Baby Boom A La Française
France now has the highest fertility rate in the European Union, rising from 1.66 to 2.0 babies per woman between 1993 and 2003. For generations the Republic of Ireland was top of the old European league table in terms of birth-rate. Now they have been relegated.
French government statisticians estimate that the current trend will increase the population of France from 60.7 million today to 70 million by 2050.
The French state does not keep official figures on the ethnic make-up of these large families, but it is claimed that the middle classes are proving as fecund as immigrants, traditionally suspected as the main drivers of the Baby Boom. (Other figures dispute this, arguing that French families have a birth rate of 1.8 (still very high, for Europe); for North African women the figure is 3.25, for African 4.07, for Turks 3.35, And Asians 2.83.
Part of the cause is the well-known 'carte famille nombreuse', meaning in practice, a permit for sustantial discounts and subsidies for families with three or more children. Especially if they travel by the state-owned railway, the SNCF. Fare discounts can reach up to 75 per cent. The government planned to withdraw this privilege from large families as a cost-cutting measure, but like so many other reforms in France, the proposal was scrapped following a public outcry.
Procreation in France is not just about the prestige of how many push-chairs maman and papa can crash along the pavements of the republique. And it is not just about financial advantage. It is about credo. The bigger the famille, the better.
Churchill once said: "The Almighty in His infinite wisdom did not see fit to create Fenchmen in the image of Englishmen".
Whether the Almighty was right or wrong in terms of 'image', He got his figures wrong. There are going to be a lot more Frenchmen than Englishmen.
