Family benefits and fertility
The study examines the relationship between family support and fertility in Finland.
The aim of the study is to determine the extent to which public family support — such as child benefits, parental allowances, childcare, and tax deductions — affects the number of children people have and the timing of childbearing. The different forms of support have varying effects: child benefit covers direct costs, while parental daily allowance and childcare reduce the time costs associated with having children.
The empirical data are based on a longitudinal file from the population and housing census for the years 1970–1990, a period during which family policy support expanded significantly. The main focus is on childcare arrangements for children under school age and on parental daily allowance. The study examines family support above all as a counterforce to the economic factors driving fertility decline, rather than in terms of the effects of individual reforms — with the exception of the 1982 SOVE reform.
The study also notes that fertility policy is only one of the many objectives of family policy, and that growth in economic resources may be directed towards the wellbeing and development of human capital of children rather than towards increasing their number. (AI translation)
- ISSN: 1236-7176
- ISBN: 951-9282-77-7
