Baby Boom Down Under

Australia's government said that having babies is a patriotic duty and promised to pay accordingly - and its citizens appear to have answered the call.

The 133,400 babies born in the six months ending in September were the most in a half-year period in 14 years, according to recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The government - responding to a falling birth rate, looming labor market shortage and shrinking tax base - had offered to give mothers $2,319 for each baby born after July 1 last year.

In announcing the payments in May 2004, Treasurer Peter Costello told the country: "You go home and do your patriotic duty tonight."

The father of three suggested that two children per couple was not enough to combat the effects of an aging population: "You should have ... one for your husband, one for your wife, and one for your country."

Economic analyst Craig James attributed the boom to low unemployment and an increasingly affluent society.

"I think it reflects the fact that income levels have been rising and unemployment's fallen to 28-year lows," James said Wednesday. "So couples are more financially secure and therefore more confident about starting a family."

By Rod McGuirk