We all know quite well how bad things are..." President on the demographic situation 0 25

The head of state, in his speech regarding demographic challenges, emphasized that today's meeting of experts is not taking place to lament once again about how bad things are.

"We know quite well how bad it is, because according to the data I have, if this demographic trend continues, by 2040 we will see an even greater decline. We will effectively lose another 15% of the country's population, which will amount to a decrease of 270,000. If today we are talking about 1.8 million, we will be talking about 1.5-1.6 million residents of Latvia. At the same time, there is no magic wand, as we well understand, that could solve all problems in one, two, or three years.

If we continue what we started this year, if we consistently pursue a policy of supporting families, concentrate investments in health, and support housing policy, then perhaps we will see the first results in the next three to five years.

Among the positive things, I would like to highlight the decisions we have made — financial support for families, childbirth allowance, childcare allowance, and an expanded circle of family support — this amounts to 74 million euros in this year's state budget. In fact, we are talking about what would require almost twice as much. The good news and important news for people is that a regular review of the state allowance has been established: once every two years.

In the field of health care, the situation is somewhat better. If initially the Ministry of Health planned 13.8 million euros, then in this year's budget, 20.9 million euros were allocated for the maternal and child health support program and for medication support. However, this also does not solve many issues.

Finally, state support for housing is also not financed adequately.

We see some progress. I do not think that we can make any benefits just two months after the budget has been adopted. The main task of today's discussion is that we must understand what urgent measures are needed while planning the budget for next year, and what ideas the political parties could adopt from the experts...

At least in the next five to seven years, we need to see what to do and how to turn demographic policy from a campaign into a systematic effort, just as we approach the defense and security of the country.

The things that, in my opinion, should be discussed are the further strengthening of families and enhancing benefits, knowing that they do not solve all problems. The second thing is what needs to be done in health policy. The third is what needs to be done in housing policy. We know that there are experts who say that it is necessary to look at demographics in the context of migration policy. Here we are well aware of the challenge we currently face, and this is an extremely sensitive topic.