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                    "Labor says better investment in early childhood education and care, such as a possible move to universal access for families, is a better way to address Australia\u2019s declining birthrate, rejecting the need for a new \u201cbaby bonus\u201d.Monday\u2019s intergenerational report showed that more Australians will be dying than being born in 40 years\u2019 time, a point already reached by countries including South Korea, Italy, Germany and Japan.It is the first time the three-yearly report has forecast more deaths than births.Lower fertility rates will drive slower population growth, according to Treasury\u2019s report. Australia\u2019s fertility rate is projected to decline to 1.34 by 2065\u201366, down from 1.5 children per woman in 2030\u201331.Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailFertility rates have been below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman for 50 years, contributing to a projected drop in population of 1.7 million people and an increase in the projected median age by 1.7 years in 2065\u201366.The report says a complex mix of economic, social and cultural factors is to blame, including greater access to contraception, more time spent in education, career development, longer periods living with parents, and delays in forming partnerships and having children.The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said fewer families with more than three children was part of the drop.\u201cWhen it comes to fertility rates, I do not and will not give people free advice about these very personal decisions that they make about whether to start a family and when to start family,\u201d he said.He said federal Labor was making it easier for adults to choose to have more children if they wished, citing expanded paid parental leave, superannuation settings and access to childcare.The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, wants universal childcare to be part of his political legacy, and the government has commissioned consulting giant Deloitte to help design a universal system. Its report on the policy \u201cpathway\u201d is due in time for the next election.The assistant minister for productivity, Andrew Leigh, said the government would \u201cprefer that it were otherwise, but that\u2019s the norm around the world.\u201d\u201cMy read of the evidence, as an economist, is that the biggest impact you have is around childcare, and that\u2019s why we made it such a priority upon coming to government, improving access to childcare, ensuring that it is affordable for Australians.\u201dBut, Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie said he was \u201copen minded\u201d about an economic incentive, like a return to the Howard government\u2019s baby bonus payment.\u201cThe real problem is of course that family formation is being delayed because people can\u2019t get into home soon enough, and families are having less children,\u201d he told ABC TV.\u201cWe want Australians to have a better chance of getting into a home, forming a family and having children of their own.\u201dThe Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, said families should have more support, but a baby bonus payment was not the right approach.He has previously called for a \u201chyper\u201d Australia and \u201cmore Australian babies\u201d. He said solutions should be designed around helping families working for their own advancement.\u201cThe baby bonus, it was just \u2018Here\u2019s some cash\u2019, without you having to put in the effort as well.\u201dResearch by the e61 thinktank found that the baby bonus, introduced by then treasurer Peter Costello in 2004, led to births increasing by 6.5%. Births increased by 10% among mothers with no taxable income, by 8% among below-median income mothers, while there was no change among high-income mothers. It also found that births of a third child increased by 9%, and that mothers who received the baby bonus, as a group, had 6.8% more children in total by 2022.The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said the government would not revisit the baby bonus.\u201cOur government doesn\u2019t get into promoting choices for individual families, but we recognise that people making those choices should be supported.\u201d"
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