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

Abstract

Abstract This paper takes the no side in the debate on the question posed in the title. The paper assumes that the dual-earner/dual-carer household model is the most likely aim of policies that push aggressively for gender equality in order to raise fertility. Five objections are discussed: the model does not necessarily lead to a fertility increase; aggressiveness will lead to an imbalance of labor supply and demand, and is likely to confront slowly changing cultural norms; similar policies will also confront the issue of innate gender differences; and country idiosyncrasies prevent the application of a unified policy approach. The paper briefly concludes that compatible gender-neutral family policies and fertility-neutral gender policies are likely to lead to an increase in fertility. 1. Introduction Many countries in Europe have considerable experience in the implementation of policies that aim to increase fertility, and of policies that seek to promote gender equality. Over the last two decades, these two policy fields have attracted interest among scientists and policy makers, particularly because gender issues are considered to be among the obstacles to having children. It is argued that the incompatibility of career and family for women is among the main reasons for contemporary low fertility. It is also argued that the effect of this incompatibility can be significantly reduced through a transition from the classical male breadwinner model to the dual-earner/dual-carer model. In this paper, I first discuss a central intersection between gender equality policies and family policies (including policies which aim to increase fertility): namely, the reconciliation of work and family roles. Next, I raise several objections to the opinion that the dual-earner/dual-carer model is a convenient solution to the dilemma, and emphasize that governmental intervention can be of low efficiency. I conclude that an efficient increase in fertility can be achieved when family policies are gender-neutral, and when gender equality policies are fertility-neutral. 2. The intersection between family policies and gender equality policies Pronatalistic family policies have dominated in the ex-socialist countries before the start of the transition (Debroy 1989). They were found to have a moderate effect on the level of fertility, in that, during the years after their implementation, births increased by around 10% (Buttner and Lutz 1990, showed this for the GDR, Philipov 1993, for Bulgaria and Stloukal 1998, for Czechoslovakia). Family policies were also implemented in other European countries. Although their main aim is to support families, they have an indirect effect on fertility, since the main instruments of a family policy, such as child allowances and parental leaves, were also the main instruments in the pronatalistic policies (see, for example, Ronsen and Skrede 2008).3 In an international comparative framework, Gauthier and Hatzius (1997) found a moderate positive effect of family policies on fertility. Policies aiming at higher fertility have been long-standing in France, and their positive effect is well-known (Pailhe, Rossier, and Toulemon 2008). Also well-known are the positive effects on fertility of family policies implemented in social democratic welfare regimes in the Nordic countries (see Bjorklund 2006, and Andersson 2008 for Sweden, and Ronsen and Skrede 2008, for the Nordic countries). In general, family policies may bring about a moderately higher fertility level (Gauthier and Philipov 2008). A major problem with the implementation of family policies is that some of the key policy instruments, such as child allowances, are expensive, and a large number of European countries cannot afford their long-term implementation at levels that are commensurate with parental spending on child care and nurture (Gauthier 2007). Gender equality has been the subject of extensive discussions about the achievement of human rights and contemporary democratic values, particularly where the rights of women are considered. …