Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Monday a wide-ranging and ambitious programme of incentives for families and children aimed at supporting couples and boosting the birth rate, including low-interest loans, new maternity benefits, and direct financial aid for a second and third child, among other measures aimed at curbing the ageing of the population.
Turkish media reported that during a ceremony in Ankara on Monday, Turkey’s president announced the extension to the whole country of a programme of incentives for newlywed couples that was initially introduced in 2023 in southeastern Turkey, following the earthquakes that devastated the region. ‘Ensuring the continuation of our young and skilled population is very important. This is more than a demographic change, it is an existential threat,’ Erdoğan said during the event to present the new plan.
Known as the Family and Youth Fund, the programme offers young couples a loan of 150,000 liras at zero interest with a 48-month repayment period and a two-year grace period. ‘Our young people can start applying today to take advantage of this opportunity,’ said the Turkish leader, who also announced significant improvements in maternity benefits.
From now on, the state will offer a one-time payment of 5,000 liras in aid for the first child, while for the second child the direct aid will be 1,500 liras a month, and 5,000 liras a month for three or more children. ‘These child allowances will be paid into mothers‘ accounts every month, regardless of any other circumstances,’ Erdoğan said.
‘Our fertility rate is alarmingly low’
The Turkish president also announced other important measures to support families that include not only financial aid but also counselling services or housing subsidies, as well as the introduction of flexible working time models and telework options to help women with children reconcile work and family life. ‘We will offer new opportunities to facilitate women’s work and family life. We will also strengthen free and low-cost childcare services for working parents,’ Erdoğan explained.
During the event, the Turkish politician promised that there would be new support and incentives for families in 2025, which he defined as the ‘Year of the Family’, stressing that the family, which he described as ‘the core and centre of society… Has always played a vital role in our social and cultural fabric… And in the preservation of our national and spiritual values’. In this regard, Erdoğan warned that ‘our fertility and population growth rates are alarming’, and that ‘if we do not take the necessary measures, the problem will reach irreparable levels.’
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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