Assunção Cristas has no magic bullet for birth rates

Assunção Cristas was challenged to reveal what she would do if Luís Montenegro invited her to be Minister of Family, but the former centrist leader showed no signs of missing her time in government. Speaking at a CDS-PP parliamentary conference, she noted that Portugal remains stuck at a low birth rate of 1.4 children per woman, highlighting a 'vicious cycle' where fewer births lead to fewer future mothers. While she acknowledged that public policies have struggled to maintain previous gains, she emphasized the gap between the number of children people desire and what they actually have in their lives.