The Italian government has launched a new initiative to reverse the country’s plunging birthrate, and that is to provide parents who have a third child with free pieces of land.
Called “Land-for-Children” program, the plan aims to give portions of state-held agricultural land to married couples who give birth to a third child between 2019 and 2021.
The plan is already included in Italy’s latest draft-budget, with €20 million (Php 1.2 billion in Philippine peso) set aside for the program until 2020.
“They say that Italians have few children and that something is needed to turn the trend around,” Italy’s Agriculture Minister Gian Marco Centinaio told Daily Mail.
“That’s why the ministry wants to contribute, favouring rural areas in particular, where people still have children,” he added.
Italy has the lowest birthrate in Europe, with a record low 464,000 births registered last 2017. This leaves the country with a significantly older population.
The Italian state owns half a million hectares of agricultural land worth around €9.9 billion (almost Php600 billion Philippine peso), as told by Italian agricultural companies Coldiretti.
However, couples in civil unions are not eligible to receive land with the said plan. The land incentive would only apply to married couples.
Foreigners interested in the offer would need to have been resident in Italy for at least 10 years.
