Volume 24 - Article 8 | Pages 201–216

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

By Dimiter Philipov

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Date received:21 Aug 2007
Date published:02 Feb 2011
Word count:3472
DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2011.24.8
Additional files:Videos (htm file, 19 kB)
Weblink:All publications in this Special Collection "Rostock Debate on Demographic Change" can be found at http://www.demographic-research.org/special/9/
 

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.

Author's Affiliation

Dimiter Philipov - Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), Austria [Email]

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