A hybrid FCM-VIKOR approach to family economic policy-making

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to present a systematic methodology to study different economic labor policies and their impacts on women and families. As women entered into the labor market, the traditional division of family labor vanished. Now, families need to make the best decision to both improve the family economy and enhance family's main functions. In addition, the government is responsible toward the consequences of the family policies. Design/methodology/approach The content analysis, fuzzy cognitive map, scenario-planning and vlse kriterijumsk optimizacija kompromisno resenje (VIKOR) have been combined to deal with the studied problem. As a case study, the focus has been on the Iranian family. According to the developed methodology, different family-oriented policies have been simulated and their results are analyzed. Findings Findings show, considering the effects that the division of the couples’ labor has on meeting the material/non-material family needs, the best policy is to support women's home-based businesses. This way, the economic factors will be improved, the couples’ dependence on meeting their needs will be more favorably affected and the family unity will be strengthened. Originality/value In this study, “family” has been analyzed as a single socioeconomic system. Never have the family economic studies been analyzed with a systematic approach by considering all the economic and non-economic factors together. This objective can be realized by applying the methodology proposed in this research because it can help to predict the consequences of any policy toward the family and provide a platform for proposing better policies and making the related decisions in this area.