Childbearing under different family policy schemes

Ezdi, Sehar; KILPI-JAKONEN, Elina; PÖYLIÖ, Heta Pauliina; EROLA, Jani

doi:10.20377/jfr-987

Childbearing under different family policy schemes

dc.contributor.author	Ezdi, Sehar
dc.contributor.author	KILPI-JAKONEN, Elina
dc.contributor.author	PÖYLIÖ, Heta Pauliina
dc.contributor.author	EROLA, Jani
dc.date.accessioned	2025-02-14T10:31:19Z
dc.date.available	2025-02-14T10:31:19Z
dc.date.issued	2024
dc.description	Published online: 18 September 2024	en
dc.description.abstract	Objective: This study assesses whether and how changes in family policies are associated with first and second births in Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom, and whether these associations differ by women’s education. Background: Family policies are expected to impact the direct and indirect costs of childbearing by providing resources that influence the monetary and non-monetary costs of having children. The countries analysed here have undergone substantial changes in family policy throughout the two decades analysed, but each country has changed different aspects of their policies, and they have done so in different policy environments. Method: We analysed women aged 18–44 and their transitions to first and second births using register data from Finland (N = 57,518 / 21,685) and panel data from Germany (G-SOEP, N=37,716 / 16,756) and the UK (BHPS and Understanding Society, N = 13,213 / 9,992) complemented with annual family policy information. The data were analysed using logistic regression models and interactions, and the results are presented as average marginal effects. Results: The results suggest that the association between changes in family policies and transitions to first and second child birth varied by birth parity, women’s education level, and between countries. For example in Finland, increases in paternity leave length were associated with greater propensities to transition to first birth for highly educated women, whereas increases in child allowances had a similar association for lower educated women. In Germany, reductions in maternity leave length were associated with increased transitions to first birth for higher educated women. In the UK, increases in maternity leave length were associated with greater transitions to first births among all women. Conclusion: The results highlight that to the extent that family policies influence fertility, they do so depending on both the country context and often differentially within countries based on women’s education level and birth parity.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	This research was supported by the project WellSIRe: 'Wellbeing Returns on Social Investment Recalibration' financed by the European Research Council under the grant agreement 882276.	en
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of family research, 2024, Vol. 36, pp. 305-326	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.20377/jfr-987
dc.identifier.endpage	326	en
dc.identifier.issn	2699-2337
dc.identifier.startpage	305	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1814/78048
dc.identifier.volume	36	en
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.orcid.upload	true	*
dc.publisher	University of Bamberg Press	en
dc.relation	Wellbeing Returns on Social Investment Recalibration
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of family research	en
dc.relation.ispartofseries	[WellSIRe]	en
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess	en
dc.rights.license	Attribution 4.0 International	*
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/	*
dc.title	Childbearing under different family policy schemes	en
dc.type	Article	en
dspace.entity.type	Publication
person.identifier.other	44411
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