Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 572 Encouraging Childbirth
For Spain, the most important thing in 1916 was the large-scale immigration from Spain to Portugal and Morocco.

If we also consider the West African colonies that are about to be localized, the immigration gap will be even larger, and the need for population growth in Spain will be even greater.

Despite the fact that the total population of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal is now as high as 5614 million, the actual population of Spain itself is only about 4150 million.

To initially meet the immigration needs of Portugal, Morocco, and its West African colonies, Spain would have to start by sending at least several million people abroad.

A large outflow of population would severely impact Spain's domestic industrial and economic development. Therefore, while encouraging emigration, Spain also needs to encourage births among its own population to ensure a balance between newborn growth and emigration, thus preventing a massive loss of its domestic population.

Currently, Spain's annual net population growth is approximately 90 to 100 million, of which about 70 are newborns born domestically.

Such a birth rate is clearly high, but given the relatively stable environment in Spain at present, the current birth rate has obviously not yet reached its limit.

What Carlo needs to do is to encourage childbirth as much as possible and increase Spain's birth rate to compensate for the impact of the massive population loss.

In fact, over the previous decades, Carlo had already ordered the Spanish government to issue a number of policies to encourage population growth.

The first thing the Spanish government needs to do is to extend these policies to Portugal and Morocco to stimulate birth rates in those countries.

Secondly, we should improve the welfare benefits of pro-natalist policies as much as possible to attract more newlywed couples to have babies.

The Spanish government is exploring plans for childcare facilities. These plans require close collaboration with major Spanish companies and factories to establish childcare facilities within these organizations, helping employees care for their babies and allowing them to dedicate more time and energy to their work.

When having children is no longer a burden, people's interest in having children will naturally increase.

Establishing childcare centers to help care for infants is one aspect, while reducing the cost of raising infants for the public is another.

Carlo hopes to provide more subsidies to families with a large number of babies.

For example, childcare centers that normally charge a fee could be opened free of charge to families with multiple children. Other preferential policies could also be prioritized for families with multiple children.

This alone should be enough to attract many newlywed couples to have children early. Another key factor is the working conditions and benefits for pregnant women.

This was not the case in later times; neither pregnant women nor their husbands were entitled to maternity leave or paternity leave.

Pregnant women are not only required to work as usual, but factory owners and business owners can also dismiss them without any reason if their work is delayed due to pregnancy.

This is a problem that even Spain cannot solve now, since some policies are subject to change and Spain cannot move beyond its current era.

However, Spain can also offer some assistance to these pregnant women who may be dismissed.

For example, when factories and companies dismiss pregnant employees, they are required to pay the pregnant woman a severance package. This severance package is not very large, but it can ensure the pregnant woman's basic livelihood after losing her job.

In addition, it is necessary to guarantee the basic income of families with pregnant women. For example, if the pregnant woman has already been dismissed from her job, her husband should not be dismissed without cause.

Only when these families with pregnant women have sufficient basic income can the enthusiasm and interest of Spaniards in having children be increased.

If these two proposals are implemented effectively, Spain's birth rate will see a significant increase, even if it does not rise dramatically.

Don't underestimate this tiny increase. For Spain, with a total population of 5614 million, even a one percent increase in newborns amounts to nearly 10,000 people, which is definitely not insignificant.

In addition to increasing the enthusiasm of Spaniards for having children, another major guarantee for increasing the population is medical conditions.

The world's population grew rapidly in the 20th century due to two main factors: technological advancements that facilitated population movement and medical advancements that improved newborn survival rates.

The high rate of infant mortality is a significant factor affecting population growth in Spain and around the world.

This has troubled the world for a long time; even a king of a country cannot escape the fate of his children dying young.

The most obvious example is Carlo's father, King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy. This king, known as the father of Italy, had many children, but only three of them survived to adulthood: King Umberto I of Italy, Amadeus I, who historically served as King of Spain, and Carlo.

Although both Umberto I and Amadeus I lived to adulthood, neither of them had a long lifespan.

Duke Amadeo was born in 1845 and died in 1890 at the age of 45. Umberto I was assassinated in 1900 at the age of 56.

Vittorio Emanuele II himself died at the age of 58. If even a king and duke of such high status could die like this, one can only imagine how the children of ordinary people fared.

Based on the situation in various European countries, it can be estimated that the current newborn survival rate in Europe is around 75%, which means that 25% of newborns die shortly after birth.

Such a ratio is quite exaggerated, considering that the number of newborns in Spain alone reaches nearly one million, not to mention the rest of Europe.

This means that the number of newborns who die each year in Europe ranges from several million to nearly ten million. If the infant mortality rate can be effectively reduced, it is foreseeable that the population of European countries will increase significantly.

Western European countries are currently doing a better job in saving newborns.

During the World Wars, the statistics on newborn survival rates in various countries were incomplete. Based on the newborn survival rates of European countries before the World Wars, the countries with relatively high newborn survival rates are mainly the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium in Western Europe.

Countries with high infant mortality rates are primarily located in Eastern and Southern Europe, including Russia, Italy, and Romania.

The UK has a newborn survival rate of around 90%, which is quite excellent compared to other parts of Europe. France and Belgium have slightly lower newborn survival rates, but both still exceed 85%.

Before World War II, Germany had become the world's second strongest power, but the survival rate of newborns in Germany was only about 78%, and a large number of newborns still died each year due to various accidents.

However, compared to Russia further east, Germany's situation is relatively better. Russia's infant mortality rate is an alarming 27%, with approximately one-third of newborns dying each year. This results in a remarkable phenomenon in Russia's population growth: a very high number of newborns and deaths annually. Compared to these European countries, Spain's current infant survival rate is only in the upper-middle range.

According to Spanish government statistics on newborn population, by 1915, Spain's newborn survival rate reached 81%, with approximately 19% of newborns dying each year.

Although the Spanish government has been trying its best to increase the newborn survival rate, the annual improvement is not significant due to the limitations of the times and medical conditions.

Of course, in addition to the limitations of the times and medical conditions, another major limitation is the limitation of per capita income.

Although Spain's industry, agriculture, and economy have developed rapidly in recent years, it is undeniable that Spain's industrial conditions still lag behind those of countries like the United Kingdom.

Especially in terms of per capita annual income, Spain's per capita annual income is not as high as that of the United Kingdom. After all, the United Kingdom has accumulated decades of experience in the Industrial Revolution, and its number of workers and middle class far exceeds that of Spain.

Of course, this doesn't mean Spain is entirely at a disadvantage compared to the UK. In terms of land area and population, Spain has now surpassed the UK.

If the current rate of industrial and economic development continues, Spain may surpass the UK in terms of industrial scale within the next few years.

Of course, this refers to the scale of domestic industry and economy. In terms of total scale, with its colonies all over the world, no country, except for the United States, could compare with Britain in terms of industry and economy, not even Germany before the World War.

The high newborn survival rate in the UK is due to two main factors: firstly, the UK's medical technology is indeed among the best in Europe; and secondly, the UK has a relatively high per capita annual income, leading people to be willing to spend more money to ensure their children's health.

Of course, this is also related to the number of doctors and hospitals.

Although Spain's population has grown rapidly over the years, the number of hospitals and doctors in Spain has not increased dramatically.

This has led to a continuous decrease in the number of doctors available to the average Spanish citizen. Some cities don't even have a decent hospital, only clinics run by interns with limited medical knowledge. These small clinics are clearly unable to improve newborn survival rates.

Therefore, to improve the newborn survival rate in Spain, it is necessary to increase the number of hospitals in each state and city, train more excellent doctors, and ensure that people in need can enjoy medical services in a timely and convenient manner.

This was a very challenging task for Spain at the time. It required not only substantial financial investment but also a significant influx of people interested in healthcare into the medical field.

The good news is that with Spain's growing population, there are more talented people available to utilize.

This was no longer the period when Carlos had just become King of Spain. At that time, Spain had virtually no local talent available and could only continuously recruit talent from various European countries.

Spain has now completed its most difficult journey. If it wants to cultivate talent, it only needs to support more medical universities and enable them to train more medical professionals for Spain.

Besides training a large number of doctors, Spain also needs to increase investment in medical technology research and development. After the World War, Europe will have at least 20 years of peace.

For Spain, these 20 years represent the best opportunity to develop medical technologies.

If we can develop some advanced medical technologies, it will not only benefit the Spanish people, but also the whole of Europe and even the world.

This may not be good news for Spain, but it is clearly the best news for humanity.

Carlos will not be stingy in this regard. In any case, the Spanish royal family has enough funds to invest in medical research and development, and the Royal Academy of Sciences has enough talent in the medical field to launch all kinds of medical projects.

Another piece of good news is that, in addition to utilizing talent from within Spain, Spain can also leverage talent from all over Europe.

Because of a prior agreement with France, Spain has priority in selecting German personnel.

While some Germans are unwilling to leave Germany, for most German scientists, it is clear that they have no say in their own destiny.

Carlo wasn't going to be polite to Germany. He would go to great lengths to bring some historically renowned scientists to Spain.

Even scientists who were not particularly famous in history, Carlo was unwilling to leave to Germany. Those who could be brought to Spain were brought to Spain; those who couldn't be brought to Spain were brought to other European countries, such as France and England.

This would not only allow Spain to acquire a large number of talented individuals, but also indirectly weaken Germany's future. In any case, Carlos certainly didn't want a future Germany to follow the same pattern as in history, rapidly rising after World War I and then using the economic crisis to launch World War II.

If World War I only brought immense pain to Europe, then World War II completely destroyed it.

At that time, Europe was still the most dazzling pearl in the world, the most developed region, and the most densely populated region.

The world's eight recognized great powers are Britain, France, Spain, the United States, Italy, Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. Except for the United States, all the remaining great powers are located in Europe.

Although that island nation in the Far East rose rapidly through the Meiji Restoration, it was unable to surpass the Austro-Hungarian Empire to become a great power in the eyes of the European people because its industrial scale remained limited.

Of course, this was also due to European racism. In the eyes of most Europeans, even though the Austro-Hungarian Empire lost vast territories, it could still maintain its position as the world's eighth strongest power thanks to the industries of Austria and Czechoslovakia.

As for that little-known island nation in the Far East, what can it do even if it possesses a certain level of military strength?
Did defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese War make one a great power? Clearly not. After all, Russia's performance in the World Wars was not good, and it didn't even exert its full strength in the Russo-Japanese War.

If the island nation had been able to defeat the Russian army in Eastern Europe, perhaps European countries would have held it in higher regard. But the state of Russia at that time was well known to European countries.

At that time, the Trans-Siberian Railway was not yet completed, and Russia had a limited number of troops in the Far East. Defeating Russia's troops in the Far East at that time was not a significant achievement.

Moreover, France, Russia's ally at the time, did not provide support. Under such circumstances, it was difficult for European countries to think highly of the island nation, unless the country had a remarkable performance against the great powers in the future.

　If there are duplicates at the end of the chapter, please refresh the page. I apologize!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)