A municipality in northern Greece has begun paying a 10,000-euro grant for every newborn child, a novel initiative funded by local forest revenues that aims to support young families and combat population decline.
The Municipality of Servia recently made its first payment to a family in the village of Elati.
In a statement, the municipality said the program is a concrete effort to address the area's demographic challenges by using local resources for its citizens.
The Mayor of Servia, Christos Eleftheriou, urged the national government to adopt similar policies. “The state must follow these initiatives because demographic decline is the biggest problem our country faces,” Mr. Eleftheriou said.
The program is a proactive local approach to reversing population loss by providing meaningful financial support to families.