Families at stake: families and children in the context of the European social policies

The long run objective of the present project is to develop an integrated understanding of the consequences for families having children in the context of social policies, cultural expectations and attitudes for selected European countries. Our data provide for a detailed cross national comparison before and after the birth of a child for market work, wage income and public transfer income, including family benefits. Thus we have detailed information on the woman’s experience of labour market accommodation and the direct impact of public policy on the family’s income. The data do not provide information on child care availability or gender role flexibility or the allocation of the woman’s time between market work and non market work (see Bianchi, 2005). But it will be able to ascertain whether the woman sustains her labor market participation after the birth of a child and whether the wage income of the family drops. This provides some indication of the availability of some form of child care and a supportive work environment. This research will also allow for the examination of whether public transfers, especially family benefits, are effective in sustaining the family’s standard of living. The family’s equivalent income before the birth of a child will be compared to its equivalent income after in order to identify countries where the economic cost of a new child is greater. This research will also examine the difference in women’s behavior and family income with the second child in comparison with the first child. A recent conference on “Can Policies enhance Fertility in Europe?” (Vienna, December, 2007) has raised the questions discussed above. But the evaluation of family policies is limited to aggregate data (Cf. Gstrein and Mateeva, 2007). Micro level analysis has been limited due to the problems of cross-national data comparability and the need for panel household sureys. The data set to be used, CHER, has been harmonized so that one can be more confident in the cross national comparisons. The research will include Denmark one of the Nordic countries with their unique set of policies (Cf. Ronsen and Skrede, 2007). It will also include a southern European country, Spain with a very different pattern of fertility and labour force activity. For Spain, Garcia (2007) has questioned the negative impact of working on fertility. The CHER data has the advantage of an additional indicator of family work behavior which is wage income. Since the labour force behavior questions in different national household surveys sometimes use different questions and responses may reflect different cultural contexts a review of the effects of the birth of a child on wages can be used as an additional indicator. The methodology has been developed for the CHER survey to examine not only changes in total income but also changes in the amount of income from various sources, including employment income, self-employment income and unearned income (rent, interest, dividends) as well as family benefits and all public transfers. Since the countries to be examined, Denmark, France, U.K., Luxembourg, Germany and Spain represent a range of welfare regimes, the research will be able to compare how different regimes compensate these families for the costs of the birth of a child. The CHER longitudinal panel data covers the years from 1990 to 2002 for each of the six countries. The research will analyze the situation for all families where a new child was added to the household, both a first child and subsequent children, if any. Then the income and labour market activity before the year in which the child was added will be compared to the income and labour market activity in the years following the addition of a child (Cf Schmaus and Bould). The technique for identifying such family changes has been developed by Gunther Schmaus who will be a consultant to the project. Schmaus and Bould (2008) are currently conducting work on comparing sources of income in the CHER panel data for cases of partnership dissolution in Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom and France in cases of partnership dissolution. The visit will provide a setting in which important variables can be developed and validated. A critical set of variables are those relating to the work behavior and occupation of the woman and the man before and after the birth of a child. The CHER survey contains many questions relating to work activity. Some, however, may not be available for all of the countries to be studied. It is expected that a composite measures will be developed in order to make effective and meaningful comparisons. The other key variables relate to sources of income as well as changes in equivalent income which takes into account family size. We will also investigate the measures of assets available such as income from interest and dividends as well as home ownership. CHER also contains measures of education attainment and current university enrollment. An important variable discussed in the literature is the public sector/private sector difference; the public sector is often found to be more accommodating of women’s caregiving activity. For the variable education, different educational levels for women may have different meanings in different countries. Given the historical importance of the relationship between education and fertility this variable will be given careful scrutiny. The objectives for the visit are variable development and validation plus initial country models of continued labor market activity for new mothers. In addition, country models will be developed for the income effects of having a child together with the compensating effect of family benefits. After the visit, the researcher and consultants will write up the results for presentation at scholarly meetings and for publication.