Source: European Parliament
As stated in the communication on Demographic change in Europe: a toolbox for action of 11 October 2023[1], the choice to have children is a personal one, although it can be influenced by external factors (i.e. quality of life, availability of care and housing, as well as work opportunities and adequate income).
The toolbox, inter alia, aims to promote a better reconciliation of family aspirations and paid work, to i ncrease the availability of childcare services to support parents with infants, to put in place working arrangements and work-life balance policies, and to explore the functioning of targeted tax and benefit reforms.
Nonetheless, due to the European population structure, the limited effectiveness of policies in this area and to the urgency of the needs the Honourable Member refers to in the introduction to the parliamentary question, enhanced legal migration pathways is a policy option included in the toolbox.
In this context, the Commission adopted an action plan to tackle labour and skills shortages in 2024, which highlights the benefits of linking together legal migration and employment policies, in order to attract talent from outside the EU to complement EU shortages[2].