Comparative Study on the Effects of Family Policy in French-Speaking Countries

Abstract

This contract relates to the comparative analysis of fertility and its determinants, and in particular that of family policy, in three European countries (Belgium, France and Luxembourg). This analysis specifically places its emphasis on the problems of reconciling family and professional life. It is a matter of reviewing studies made until now in order to endeavour to explain fertility and its evolution over the end of the 20th century. [...] Following the logic developed here, the plan adopted in the report will be arranged in two parts: we will investigate the reasons why fertility fell, and then recovered fairly recently in some countries. We will first of all seek to know whether the measures contributing to an assumption of the financial cost of a child have an effective influence on fertility. Then we will attempt, in the second part, to see whether fertility can be explained, directly or indirectly, by measures, which take into consideration the fact that a child costs time. This account of the literature concerning the case in Belgium, France and Luxembourg will be preceded by a section describing the demographic and economic situation in each of the three countries. Inhalt General introduction Figure 1: Evolution of the total fertility rate 1960-2001 Figure 2: The supposed determinants of fertility Chapter 1. Statistical description of national situations: a review of certain differences between the three countries Section 1. Demographic aspects Table A. The total population and its evolution Table B. Marriages, divorces and single parents Table C. Around birth Table D. Birth rate, and final number of children Table E. Average age of mothers at motherhood Table F. Average age at marriage Table G. Population breakdown by age (as at 1 January 2000) Section 2. Professional life Table A. Couples: one active or both? Table B. Scheme of full-time and part-time work, for couples with a child of less than six years, in 1998: preferences and reality (in percentages) Table C. Monthly income, in purchasing power parity (reference: the Euro) Table D. Proportion of unemployed in the entire active population, and for different categories of women Table E. Proportion of those active occupied among mothers with at least one child aged less than 5 years, according to whether they live as part of a couple or single Table F. Rate of activity of women by age, in 1999 Table G. Rate of part-time employment, in 1999 Section 3. The weight of family policy in the budgets of the three countries, and some indications concerning the care of young children Table A. Proportion represented by family benefits in Gross Domestic Product Table B. Proportion represented by family allowances in total household income Table C. The most frequent paid forms of care of young children, and the existence of subsidies Table D. Types of reception structure for young children, and the number of those structures (where relevant) Table E. Sending children to school Chapter 2. Birth rate down: why? Section 1. Birth rate, adversely affected by the monetary cost of a child, perhaps slowed less sharply in view of the existence of family allowances §1. Financial measures: various family allowances, as well as fiscal devices A. Family allowances which constitute financial assistance for the family whatever the mother's choice of activity 1. Maternity allowance 2. Family allowances 3. Special allowance for a handicapped child 4. Return to school allowance 5. Young child allowance 6. The family supplement 7. Orphan allowance Tables - (Summary of family policy measures) B. Fiscal measures providing financial assistance to the family §2. Have these measures a direct effect on birth rate? A. Natalist family policy: definition and presentation of the means enabling it to be implemented 1. Definition 2. The different means advocated for a natalist family policy B. Impact of family benefits upon fertility: has the drop in a child’s monetary costs increased the number of births? 1. Macro-economic approach 2. Micro-economic approach Section 2. Fertility has decreased due to a child’s time cost women mostly have to cover, while nowadays, they would rather have a professional activity §1. Difficult reconciliation of work and family A. Apparent frequency of incompatibility between work and family 1. Fertility slows down professional activity 2. Professional activity limits fertility B. Definition and reflection on the notion of reconciliation §2. Ways of reconciling work and family A. Sharing responsibilities within the couple or even among relatives could theoretically allow a mother to carry on her professional activity without a change, while having the same number of children 1. Do official measures aimed at encouraging a sharing out of tasks exist? 2. Does sharing tasks have an impact on fertility? B. A market solution for mothers wishing to continue their professional activity: paid childcare services 1. Public measures in favour of child care for working women Tables - Measures relating to childcare family policy 2. Do public measures aimed at work-family reconciliation by childcare support have an indirect impact on fertility? C. Choosing part-time work may allow a mother to care for her children while staying at work, and thus perhaps may favour fertility 1. Part-time work does appear to be a measure of work-family reconciliation, although its appeal is often questioned 2. Public measures that alleviate the cost in time a mother spends on her young child Tables - Measures relating to professional activity reduction/cessation 3. If they do affect the labour supply, could family policy measures aimed at encouraging part-time work also influence fertility? §3. Failure of work-family reconciliation: withdrawal from the labour market A. The impact of family benefits in favour of withdrawal from the labour market on withdrawal from the labour market and fertility 1. A marked impact of measures in favour of a decrease in professional activity on female labour force participation 2. The effects of measures in favour of withdrawal from the labour market vary in intensity according to a mother’s characteristics 3. Impact of measures aimed at reducing work time on fertility B. Impact of financial measures that do not entail any explicit condition of withdrawal from the labour market, upon professional activity and fertility General conclusion Bibliography Acknowledgements