Girkalnis couple doubts family aid will reverse demographic decline

A couple from Girkalnis who raised three children doubt that support for families will significantly change the demographic situation, LRT reported in its radio programme Už Vilniaus. They say pressure to provide children with expensive goods can make family life costly.

“I wonder if it will change anything. These days, a child needs the best computers and phones. If a girl goes to school with a cheap backpack, people laugh at her. If her jeans aren’t branded, it’s a whole flood of tears,” said Antanas Vaitiekūnas, 70. He and his wife Sigita, 66, have three grandchildren.

The couple have lived in Girkalnis, in Raseiniai district, and been involved in music since childhood. For nearly 30 years, they played in the now-disbanded Gojus folk band, and they helped establish the Girkalnio Griežynė folk music festival. Antanas now plays in the Pramedžiava men’s band, while Sigita attends concerts as a listener. She once learned to play drums and double bass when the band needed musicians.

Antanas says anyone can learn to play an instrument with enough determination. “You need to want to do it, and you’ll learn,” he said, adding that discipline is also important.

The couple say their pensions cover their needs. They grow their own vegetables and keep chickens, so they have eggs and meat. Sigita says she receives a smaller pension because she spent much of her life raising their children and doing household work, while Antanas worked to support the family.

“We planned it that way when we started our life together: I would provide for the family and work, and you would look after the home and raise the children. That was the old-fashioned way. Of course, things are different now,” Antanas said.

Sigita believes the limit of two years of paid maternity leave for women raising children is one of the causes of the demographic crisis.