Having a third baby really pays off for French women

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PARIS -- Middle-class French women will be offered cash incentives to have a third child amid growing concerns that professional couples are having too few children.

Although France's fertility rate of 1.9 for each couple is relatively high among European countries, family lobbyists are dismayed by a fall in the number of babies born to better-educated women.

The government will announce its proposals tomorrow when Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, the father of three children, presides at a conference on family life. A big increase in allowances has been widely predicted.

France's National Union of Family Associations, which is known by its French acronym UNAF and is playing a key role in shaping policy, said the figure should be set at up to $1,250 a month for women with three children, double the present maximum, and should be set according to the woman's salary.

Despite the budgetary implications in a country that is already accused of living extravagantly, the government agrees with the principle and is said to be finalizing the details of a "very significant" initiative.

Given France's egalitarian ideals, the notion of creating perks to attract professional mothers did not go down well with the socialist opposition.

Although class or racial issues have been sidestepped, there is a suspicion on the left that the ruling center-right regards the existing system as favoring those with little work ethic who live on handouts.

"The poor current level of compensation appeals only to those on lower incomes," said UNAF President Hubert Brin.

"This is not just a French problem but affects Europe in general. In Germany, as many as 40 percent of professional women turn their backs on maternity.

"Ask a professional woman these days to make a definitive choice between having a career and having babies, and she'll choose the former."