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

Dimiter Philipov
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Dimiter Philipov: Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna)

Demographic Research, 2011, vol. 24, issue 8, 201-216

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.

JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:demres:v:24:y:2011:i:8

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2011.24.8

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