France to pay for more French babies

France is proposing new measures to encourage a higher birth rate, including an increased monthly grant for mothers who take time off work for a third baby, discount cards for travel or household items.

France currently has a fertility rate of 1.916 children per woman -- slightly below the 2.07 figure which is required for the population to renew itself over the generations. In the 25 nations of the EU, only Ireland has a higher rate.

By comparison, the fertility rate in Spain and Italy is 1.2.

The EU is beginning to wake up to their demographic time bomb. Despite "demographers predicting that large-scale immigration will be necessary in many countries in order to sustain the benefits enjoyed by a steadily aging population," such large-scale immigration is not possible without loss of a European culture. This is their time bomb. It isn't replacement workers; it's where they are coming from.