Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 179: Chapter 142: Encouraging Births, Three Major Studies (Part 3)

Either directly serve the country, which can exempt all expenses at orphanages or foster homes. Or work and earn money to repay the debts once owed.

Speaking of subsidies and rewards for larger families, once passed by parliament, it was quickly submitted to the Cabinet Government for execution.

Since the introduction of the previous assessment system, the administrative efficiency of various levels of government in Spain has greatly improved. There isn’t much choice, as poor assessments lead to demotion without any leniency.

Several mayors of different cities have already been dismissed by their respective regional parliaments. Concerning their positions and future prospects, these officials cannot afford not to take it seriously.

The document passed by parliament is merely a draft; the specifics of execution still depend on the Spanish Government’s financial situation.

When the draft was passed by parliament, Prime Minister Prim convened a cabinet meeting, assigning the task to the departments of civic affairs and finance.

After some time of discussion, the departments of civic affairs and finance finally proposed a more detailed plan for the “Subsidy and Reward Scheme for Large Families.”

The act specifies that those with 2 children or fewer are considered ordinary families. Beyond this, each additional child allows for a government subsidy.

The government subsidy is 25% of the local average annual income, which currently, based on the national average, is around 26 Pessetas. The government subsidy can be claimed once a year or directly transferred to the family’s linked official bank account.

Besides the government subsidy, families with many children also receive certain rewards. For instance, families with over 5 children are given priority when Spanish state-owned or Royal Family enterprises recruit employees.

For families with more than 8 children, they are featured in the local newspaper and awarded the title of “Heroic Parents” by the local government.

Families with more than 10 children may receive a personal meeting with Carlo, and are awarded the Spanish “Heroic Parents” title, receiving invitations to every official Spanish Government event organized.

Although the corresponding subsidies and rewards are not very generous, for some families that originally have more than 2 children, it indeed offers an additional income.

The local 25% average annual income subsidy is not much, but adding up the subsidies for several children can reach the level of one adult’s annual income.

With the continuous increase in average annual income, having more children can indeed become one of the choices for Spaniards, considering that reproduction was one of the few entertainments available to common people of the time.

Considering Spain’s ever-changing population and economic scale, this act is temporarily enforced and may undergo changes in the future.

For the Spanish Government, this act does not account for significant expenditure. If a newborn can receive a 26 Pesseta government subsidy, with the projected newborn count next year at about 200,000,

it means the government only needs to bear about 5.2 million Pessetas in subsidies to stimulate a higher extent of population growth in Spain.

Moreover, some newborns do not belong to families with more than two children, reducing the government’s required subsidy expenditure.

This is akin to achieving great results with little cost. The Spanish Government’s fiscal revenue is constantly increasing, and 5 million Pessetas indeed does not constitute a large expenditure for the current Spanish Government.

When approving this budget, the Ministry of Finance hardly blinked. The Minister of Finance even considered increasing the subsidy beyond the act’s provisions to further incentivize Spain’s population growth rate, if not for the concerns that excessive subsidies might not be beneficial.

After the enactment of the policy, Carlo didn’t pay much attention anymore.

After all, the execution of the policy is the government’s responsibility, and excessive attention from Carlo could harm the good relationship with Prime Minister Prim.

Carlo has great confidence in Prime Minister Prim. The fact that the policy passed through parliament proves Prime Minister Prim’s support for the policy.

The only possible change might be the strength of subsidies for families with many children, which could be altered after Carlo takes power, as it is not an urgent matter.

Christmas of 1872 has passed, and Carlo’s current concern is the approaching economic crisis in 1873.

Fortunately, the impending economic crisis seems to have little impact on Spain.

It is understandable; compared to the major powers, Spain’s industry and economic scale are not large, so the impact is naturally less.

Furthermore, the Spanish Government’s domestic reforms have allowed Spain’s economy to experience stable growth, without excessive and flamboyant surges.

Even the production in many industrial sectors is insufficient to meet domestic demand in Spain, eliminating the possibility of an economic crisis outbreak.

Carlo has been closely monitoring Spain’s stock and industrial markets, and only after confirming that Spain will not be severely impacted by the economic crisis did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the economic crisis of 1873 wasn’t particularly massive, it lasted quite a long time, causing significant impacts.

If the nascent Spain had been severely affected by an economic crisis, it would have been a devastating blow to Spain’s industrial and economic development.