Is Slovakia Experiencing A Baby Boom?

As I walk the pedestrian zone and river walk around Nitra and the campus of Slovak Agricultural University, I am struck by what appears to be the large number of babies and young children here in Nitra. These children are usually accompanied by their parents but sometimes by their grandparents. The infants are pushed in beautifully decorated strollers and the older children are allowed to wander about fairly freely.

Somehow what I observed didn’t seem to square with my preconception that populations were on the decline in Europe. So I decided to do a little research to learn more about the population outlook for the Slovak Republic. A quick review of the data contained in the World Factbook revealed that for the year 2006 the Slovak birth rate of 10.65 births per 1000 population exceeded the death rate of 9.48 per 1000 population.

According to an article by BBC reporter Nick Thorp entitled “Birth rate crisis hits Central Europe,” the Slovak Republic is the only Central European country in which births outnumbered deaths in recent years. According to Thorp, policies and events of the 1970s are primarily responsible for the current baby boom. Thorp notes that then Czech leader Gustav Husak implemented policies that resulted in low cost housing (flats) and very generous maternity leave benefits. These policies, combined with the extreme boredom associated with life in the statist society of the time, resulted in very high reproduction rates.

The generation of young women who were born during the 1970’s are now having to deal with the reality of the “biological time clock.” Many are opting to take this last opportunity to have children. Hence, we have the explanation for the many babies and young children we see around Nitra.

Certainly, this does not mean that Slovakia is assured to be on a path of sustained long-term population growth. However, data from the World Factbook (various issues) indicate that fertility rates in Slovakia have been increasing slightly since 2001. In addition, Slovakia, like some other European countries, is looking for ways to change public policies to assure continued population growth. According to various articles in The Slovak Spectator, recent public policy discussions have generated a wide range of alternative policy proposals designed to encourage young Slovaks to have and rear
more babies. For example, one party recently adopted a stork named Kristian as its mascot. Another proposed to increase the one time government bounty for each child born from SK5, 000 to SK20, 000.

I’m not certain if the proponents of these different proposals for increasing birth rates in Slovakia are familiar with the work of Nobel Laureate economist Gary Becker. However, if Becker were to look at the situation, he would, I believe, quite quickly point out that as Slovak women have become better educated and as their employment opportunities have improved because of recent economic reforms, the opportunity cost of having children has risen significantly. Thus, rising levels of pecuniary and non-pecuniary subsidization of childbearing and rearing may be required to override the rising opportunity cost of having babies.

While I haven’t had occasion to discuss the matter with older Slovaks, I feel fairly certain that they are pleased with the current baby boom and probably hope that these higher fertility rates continue long into the future. Like their American counterparts, these older Slovaks undoubtedly would want a large and productive workforce to insure that tax revenues continue to be available to support them during their retirement years. Although the Dzurinda government (1998-2006) provided for privatization of the pension system for future retirees (Slovaks have the option of putting 9% of their gross pay into private pension funds rather than the state run pay as you go system), current retirees are dependent on the pay as you system similar to the social security system in the U.S.