Should the EU provide direct cash payments to parents to encourage higher birth rates?

Europe is currently experiencing a "demographic winter," with birth rates in many countries falling well below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. This trend threatens to shrink the workforce, strain pension systems, and reduce Europe's geopolitical influence. Some nations, like Hungary, have introduced aggressive "pro-natalist" policies involving loans and tax exemptions to encourage native births. Critics argue these policies are ineffective, expensive, and often push women out of the workforce, preferring immigration as a solution to labor shortages. Proponents argue that relying on immigration changes the cultural fabric of the nation and that the state has a duty to help families reproduce.