Should governments in Europe be more aggressive in pushing for gender equality to raise fertility? The second "NO"

Neyer, Gerda

doi:10.4054/demres.2011.24.10

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…This study focuses on the effects of three reforms aimed at encouraging an equal division of parental leave use: the first and second reserved month (1995 and 2002) and the gender equality bonus (2008). While gender equality policy is a much wider area than family policy (Neyer, 2011), parental leave use is often considered one of the most important indicators of gender equality in Sweden, and therefore effectiveness of reforms is crucial. The results show that the first reserved month clearly has the largest effect on both fathers' and mothers' use.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What are the effects of reforms promoting fathers’ parental leave use?

Duvander

Johansson

2012

Journal of European Social Policy

176

155

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Since the introduction of parental leave in Sweden a more gender-equal division of such leave has been targeted. In 1995 one month was reserved for each parent, implying that the month was forfeited if not used by the same parent. A second month was reserved in 2002. In 2008, a gender equality bonus was introduced, meaning that tax credits were given to parents who shared the leave equally. This study investigates the effects of these reforms on parental leave use by means of a difference-in-difference approach with parents of children born just before and just after the introduction of each reform. We use register data from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, which include all parents residing in Sweden. The results indicate a strong effect on parental leave use resulting from the introduction of the first reserved month, a more modest but clear effect resulting from the second reserved month and, so far, no effect resulting from the gender equality bonus. Possible interpretations of the results are that (1) reserved time may be more effective than an economic bonus, (2) change from low levels of use may be easier and (3) reforms may matter most when they are first introduced.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, gender equality regarding the use of parental leave is sometimes seen as a way to enable men and women to have the number of children they desire. Gender-equal parental leave use may thus be seen as part of policies that are associated with higher fertility (McDonald 2006a;Neyer, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What are the effects of reforms promoting fathers’ parental leave use?

Duvander

Johansson

2012

Journal of European Social Policy

176

155

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“…The question of whether and how family policy can infl uence fertility rates is naturally also of interest to decision makers, who in many countries are worried about sub-replacement fertility levels (UN 2010:7) and wish to take action to increase childbearing (for Germany, see Henninger et al 2008). However, despite the extensive discussion on the matter, our understanding of the relationship between family policy and fertility is still somewhat limited (Gauthier 2007;Neyer 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertility, Family Policy and Welfare Regimes

Schleutker¹

2013

CPoS

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This paper is inspired by the many similarities between gendered welfare state research and demographic research on the determinants of fertility. The first part of the paper discusses some of the theories on childbearing in the light of the gendered welfare state theory. One important similarity between these two genres is that when work-life choices are studied, the emphasis is on policies which enable women to reconcile employment and family. Support for informal care is accordingly treated as having a negative influence on work-life compatibility, and women are moreover assumed to have homogeneous preferences, i.e., they are supposed to want to combine work and family. However, such an approach does not pay sufficient attention to informal care and to heterogeneity among women, either when it comes to preferences or to behaviour. To address these gaps, in the second part of the paper a new framework to analyse women’s work-life choices is developed. The suggested framework gives considerable attention to the way in which formal as well as informal care is supported or enforced in different welfare states and the consequences such support has on women’s decision making. Moreover, heterogeneity among women is emphasised, both in preferences and when it comes to behaviour. The central argument is that women’s heterogeneous preferences transform differently to different lifestyle career strategies (with regard to employment and childbearing) in different welfare state settings, as each lifestyle strategy is encouraged or discouraged by family policy to differing degrees. Hence, the number of women who choose a particular strategy, as well as the level of fertility, varies between the welfare states. In addition, household resources are assumed to influence the choices that are being made. The argument that is put forward is illustrated with recent data on family policy, women’s employment patterns and fertility in the social-democratic (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden), conservative (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain) and liberal welfare states (Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, the USA). Moreover, a reinterpretation of the findings on the relationship between family policy, female employment and fertility is provided in the light of the framework outlined.

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“…I agree with Neyer's (2010) controversial argument 20 that governments should not use gender equality policy instrumentally to raise fertility. Gender equality is a value per se, and it not a panacea against low fertility.…”

mentioning

confidence: 75%

“…Though pushing for gender equality is one way to increase fertility rates (Oláh, 2011), gender equality policies are not a panacea (Neyer, 2010). Economic factors also influence fertility decisions.…”

Section: Chapter 10 Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Labour Markets, Family-Relevant Policies and Reproductive Behaviours: Quebec's Fertility Regimes Between 1960 and 2010

Mathieu¹

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Using the gender equity theory to study fertility trends in Quebec between 1960 and 2010, this dissertation shows that fertility outcomes are more contingent upon policies that support a gender-egalitarian division of care work, than fertility policies aimed at increasing the number of births. Changes in reproductive trends are examined using an 'institutional approach' to fertility. Accordingly, fertility outcomes are theorised as resulting from the articulation between the economic context, the sequence of key transitions in family life and the extent to which social policy allows care work to be 'demotherized'. The dissertation introduces the concept of the 'demotherization' of care work, to convey the extent to which mothers can download their care-giving responsibilities to the state, grandparents and their partner. In the 1960s, fertility is shown to have decreased in Quebec, despite the fact that women were faced with new opportunities in public institutions. Following the Quiet Revolution, the federal and the provincial governments offered a limited set of family-relevant policies that supported 'gendered familialism', with low levels of defamilialization and demotherization. Declining fertility was the result of the lower importance of the family as a pillar institution and of women's difficulty to combine earning and caring tasks. The introduction of Quebec's first family policy in 1988 which contained a baby bonus, had a positive effect on fertility, though not because of this new measure, but because of a favorable economic context. Quebec's provincial government continued to support the motherization of care work, while simultaneously offering allowances that favoured economic defamilialization. Finally, Quebec's second family policy, introduced in 1997 (yet fully implemented in 2006), challenged the traditional gendered division of care-giving responsibilities, through the provision of universal and targeted measures that allowed care work to be demotherized. In Quebec's fertility regime moved from 'implicit familialism' to a hybrid version of 'institutional' and 'de-gendered' arrangements of care work. In that context, women were able to maintain good activity rates, along with relatively high fertility. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing a dissertation is truly a collaborative effort in many respects. Many people helped me to translate my doctoral ambitions into realizations. First, I am very indebted to my supervisor, Wallace Clement, whose support and guidance have made the completion of this thesis possible. I am especially grateful to Wally for his patience, his encouragement and his feedback throughout the writing process. Writing a dissertation in one's second language is a challenging endeavour and Wally proved to be an enthusiastic guide in my journey. I am also grateful to my other two committee members, Rianne Mahon whose work and career path have been a great inspiration and Janet Siltanen for her constructive criticisms and for pushing me in new directions. Thank you to you both for your val...

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Should governments in Europe be more aggressive in pushing for gender equality to raise fertility? The second "NO"

Cited by 16 publications

References 54 publications

What are the effects of reforms promoting fathers’ parental leave use?

What are the effects of reforms promoting fathers’ parental leave use?

Fertility, Family Policy and Welfare Regimes

Labour Markets, Family-Relevant Policies and Reproductive Behaviours: Quebec's Fertility Regimes Between 1960 and 2010

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