前不久，韩国统计厅发布的《2018年出生统计(确定版)》显示，该国合计生育率仅为0.98，即平均一名女子终生生产不足1名子女，成世界唯一出生率进入“零时代”的国家。放眼全球，不少国家都像韩国一样，面临着逐渐恶化的生育危机。其中一些国家就通过财政补贴来激励年轻人生育下一代。
Since 2013， every new-born baby in Lestijärvi， one of the smallest municipalities in Finland， has been ‘worth’ €10，000。
自2013年以来，在芬兰最小的城市之一Lestijärvi，每个新生儿都“值”1万欧元。
That’s when Lestijärvi’s administrators decided to fight back against the declining birth rate and shrinking population in the village， in which only one child had been born the previous year。 The municipality introduced an incentive called the ‘baby bonus’： any resident who gave birth would be entitled to €10，000， paid over 10 years。
这是Lestijärvi当局为应对该地区出生率持续下降、人口减少而实施的政策，在此前一年，整座城里只有一个孩子出生。市政府引入了一项名为“婴儿奖金”的激励措施：任何居民，只要生娃，都有权获1万欧元(约人民币八万元)，分10年支付。
It’s taken off： nearly 60 children have since been born in the municipality。 Compared to the prior seven years in which only 38 children were born， the new babies are a big boost to this village of fewer than 800 people。
这项措施已初具成效了：七年前这一地区总共只有38个新生儿，而政策实施以来已经有60个孩子出生了。这一数字对这个不到800人的地区来说是一个巨大的推动。
▲ Does it make sense to pay people to have kids? (via BBC)
受此影响，芬兰的其他城市也相继推出了“婴儿奖金”，奖励金额从几百欧到1万欧不等。但是效果如何呢?
Still， despite these local incentives， Finland’s national birth rate is struggling。 As in many other European countries， it has decreased significantly in the last decade： in 2018， it hit a record low of 1.4 children per woman， compared to the ‘replacement rate’ of 2.1。 Ten years before that， it stood at 1.85。