Two thirds of Latvian families with children, aged two or less, when asked to comment on the recent census findings that the population of Latvia on the decrease and to give suggestions on how to improve the demographic situation, admit that the child planning decision in their family was never considered from the financial perspective, says the Swedbank Institute of Private Finances.
“The discussion with young mothers organized by the Institute revealed that the financial situation is normally not the crucial factor when deciding on family increase. This was later underpinned by findings of a wider survey – the expenses associated with giving birth to and initial raising a child were considered only by one Latvian family in five. As compared with the family’s budget during the first year following childbirth, parents are more concerned about the stability and safety of their family within five to ten years – how easy it will be for the parents to return to labour market, will the child have a place in state-paid kindergarten, and whether the child will have access to free health care”, points out Ieva Use, Director of Swedbank Institute of Private Finances.
The survey conducted by the Institute in cooperation with the family portal Calis.lv shows that only one family in five, in which a child has been born within the last two years, has made calculations before conceiving as to what costs that decision would entail. This figure was particularly low in rural areas ofLatviawhere the absolute majority (96%) of families has made no estimate of the cost of having a child.
Slightly more frequently – in 30% of cases – the cost of having a child has been estimated by families with income per one family member ranging from 400 to 600 lats (net), while households on higher or lower income have done so comparatively less often. Also, more often such calculations have been done by families where the child is raised by both parents together, where the partners have a joint budget, where expenses of loan obligations are planned well ahead and where savings are created regularly.
The young mothers’ survey was conducted online by Swedbank Institute of Private Finances in cooperation with the family portal Calis.lv in October 2011, polling 300 female respondents expecting a child or having children aged up to two years.
