Different, Yet the Same: Three Decades of Family Policy Change in Hungary, Lithuania and Romania

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Borbala Kovacs
Keyword(s):  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Family Transfers ◽  
Policy Adaptation ◽  
Dual Earner ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Policy Transformation ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Time Changes

The article analyses over-time changes in family transfers in Hungary, Lithuania and Romania from 1990-2018 to seek evidence of similarity in the ethos of policy adaptation. Informed by recent scholarship signalling growing disparities in social entitlements along socio-economic lines in Hungary and Romania, the analysis assesses whether three decades of change in family transfers in three different policy contexts might exhibit the selective, pro-wealthy ethos of social policy transformation described. Using data from an original dataset drawing on exhaustive social legislation pertaining to family allowances, family tax breaks and paid parental leave-related transfers, the article shows that, for most of the last three decades, institutional dualisms in the protection of families with dependent children have grown. Policy drift undercuts the rights of the neediest and policy layering leads to programme expansion targeting dual-earner, high-income families especially. This trend has intensified over the last fifteen years and is most evident in paid leave schemes.

scholarly journals Dual-Earner Family Policies at Work for Single-Parent Families

2020 ◽  
pp. 303-330
Author(s):  
Laurie C. Maldonado ◽  
Rense Nieuwenhuis
Keyword(s):  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Single Parents ◽  
Poverty Rate ◽  
Single Parent ◽  
Income Support ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Single Parent Families ◽  
Dual Earner ◽  
Family Benefits

AbstractThis chapter sets out to examine how family policies differently affect the poverty rate of single-parent families versus couples with children and also probes whether or not there is a premium—or penalty—for single parents. This is based on a literature review and analysis of a number of comparative family policy data infrastructures. Although single parents were found to benefit from child income support, parental leave, and ECEC, important differences were found. The evidence is strong that child income support as family benefits do in fact lower poverty for all families and especially for single-parent families. On the other hand, ECEC costs in many countries represent a larger share of their household budget compared to dual-earner couples. In countries with low replacement rates during parental leave, the income position of single parents on leave is substantially worse than among dual-earner parents in which one parent is on leave.

scholarly journals Attitudes about paid parental leave: Cross-national comparisons and the significance of gendered expectations, family strains, and extant leave offerings

2021 ◽  
pp. 002071522110267
Author(s):  
Chris Knoester ◽  
Qi Li ◽  
Richard J Petts
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Government Funding ◽  
Paid Leave ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Gendered Expectations ◽  
Levels Of Support

Using data on paid parental leave preferences from 35,488 adults situated within 26 different OECD countries, and multilevel modeling, this study examines public opinions about the provision of paid parental leave, some government funding of leave offerings, and preferred lengths of leave offerings. We consider how attitudes may be similar or different across social contexts and then focus upon the extent to which gender, gendered parenting role attitudes, family strains, and country-level institutionalized leave offerings are associated with leave preferences. The findings indicate that the vast majority of respondents are in favor of rather widespread and generous paid parental leave offerings; indeed, there are generally high levels of support for paid leave availability, relatively long paid leave offerings, and government funding of leaves. Gendered expectations and family strains are consistently associated with individuals’ leave preferences—even after accounting for country-level social contexts. Country-level offerings are also associated with leave preferences—yet, we find that the overwhelming majority of respondents express a desire for paid parental leave length offerings that are substantially different than the extant leave offerings in their country. Overall, this research complements previous work by newly documenting widespread public support for the provision of paid leave and some government funding of it. Also, it establishes that gendered expectations, family strains, and country-level practices are consistently associated with paid parental leave preferences in wealthy countries. Yet, substantial dissatisfaction with extant paid leave policies within countries seems to be commonplace.

Toward Thriving Families

2020 ◽  
pp. 213-226
Author(s):  
Maxine Eichner
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Free Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
The Many

This chapter addresses three concerns that might arise when considering whether to adopt pro-family policies. First, it assesses whether adopting pro-family programs will make our economy less competitive. In answer, it demonstrates that countries that have adopted pro-family policies have experienced as much or more growth in GDP per hour worked in the last decades as the United States has. Furthermore, the employment rates in countries that have adopted pro-family policy are actually higher than our own. Second, the chapter considers whether the costs of pro-family programs, including paid parental leave, child benefits, and universal daycare and prekindergarten, would be prohibitively high. It demonstrates that the additional costs of pro-family programs could be readily absorbed either simply by shifting existing total social welfare spending to spend more on children publicly without paying a penny more overall or by raising taxes in a manner that placed no added burden on middle- and low-income families. Third and finally, the chapter considers whether pro-family policy would stifle Americans’ freedom. Free-market proponents who equate unregulated capitalism with freedom, this section shows, overlook the many ways that market pressures are increasingly constraining Americans’ lives.

Explaining New Patterns in Family Leave Policies in Latin America: Competing Visions and Facilitating Institutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-121
Author(s):  
Marisa Hawley ◽  
Matthew E. Carnes
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Maternity Leave ◽  
Family Leave ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Paternity Leave ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
The Family ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Family Leave Policies

ABSTRACTRecent years have seen the rapid passage and modification of family leave policies in Latin America, a surprising trend, given the region’s historically conservative gender norms. This article argues that the rise of new paternity leave policies—as well as the modifications to longer-standing maternity leave policies—reflects contending visions of gender and the family, mediated by the institutions and actors that populate the region’s political landscape. Using an original dataset of family policy measures, this article finds that the factors facilitating the adoption of new, vanguard policies, such as paternity leave, function in ways different from those that shape the expansion of longer-standing policies, including maternity leave.

scholarly journals Impact of a Reform Towards Shared Parental Leave on Continued Fertility in Norway and Sweden

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1205-1229
Author(s):  
Ann-Zofie Duvander ◽  
Trude Lappegard ◽  
Mats Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Fertility Behavior ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Equal Division ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Policy Effect ◽  
Work Burden

AbstractIt has been argued that a generous family policy aimed at a gender-equal division of childcare and economic responsibility will have a positive impact on childbearing. In this study, we investigate whether fathers’ parental leave use is related to continued childbearing and whether there has been a policy effect on fertility behavior due to the introduction of the father’s quota in Norway and Sweden. Fathers’ parental leave use may affect fertility by easing women’s work burden at home and thus enhancing the degree of compatibility between childrearing and female employment, and it may increase fathers’ interest in children and childcare. To distinguish causality from selection in the effects observed, we use the natural experiment of the introduction of the father’s quotas. The results indicate that the reforms did not influence fertility in Norway but that Swedish couples with a lower income had a temporary higher third-birth risk. Fathers in this group showed the greatest increase in leave use after the reform.

Industrial Legislation in 2010

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 288-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shae McCrystal ◽  
Belinda Smith
Keyword(s):  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Full Effect ◽  
Safe Work ◽  
Work Health ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Specific Regulation

Two themes in legislative activity in 2010 were national uniformity and some movement in using law to promote equality, especially gender equality. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) came into full effect with the commencement of the new safety net provisions and the referral to the Commonwealth of industrial relations powers over private-sector workforces in all states except Western Australia. Progress continued on the promised harmonization of Australian occupational health and safety laws with the release of a model Work Health and Safety Bill by Safe Work Australia, although developments in some states threaten to derail the process. An attempt to repeal most of the industry-specific regulation of the building and construction industry failed. The Federal Parliament passed legislation establishing a national paid parental leave scheme, and a number of changes to federal discrimination laws came into effect or were proposed, including the potential consolidation of federal discrimination legislation. This article provides an overview of these developments at federal level and concludes with a discussion of developments in the states including a brief overview of Victoria’s new equal opportunity legislation.

scholarly journals Among Low-Income Women In San Francisco, Low Awareness Of Paid Parental Leave Benefits Inhibits Take-Up

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 1157-1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia M. Goodman ◽  
Holly Elser ◽  
William H. Dow
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Low Income Women ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

scholarly journals Social Investment in an Age of Austerity: A Comparison of Family Policy Reforms in Four European Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-267
Author(s):  
Sonja Blum ◽  
Tatjana Rakar ◽  
Karin Wall
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Crowding Out ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post War

The focus of this article is on family policy reforms in four European countries – Austria, Finland, Portugal, and Slovenia – between 2008 and 2015. These years were marked by the ‘Great Recession’, and by the rise of the social-investment perspective. Social investment is an umbrella concept, though, and it is also somewhat ambiguous. This article distinguishes between different social-investment variants, which emerge from a focus on its interaction with alternative social-policy perspectives, namely social protection and austerity. We identify different variants along the degree of social-investment: from comprehensive, over crowding out, towards lean forms. While the empirical analysis highlights variation, it also shows how there is a specific crisis context, which may lead to ‘crowding out’ of other policy approaches and ‘leaner’ forms of social investment. This has led to strong cutbacks in family cash benefits, while public childcare and parental leaves have proved more resilient in the investigated countries. Those findings are revelatory in the current Covid-19 pandemic, where countries are entering a next, possibly larger economic crisis. Key words: family policy; crisis; social investment; austerity; case studies denoted as the end of the ‘golden age’ of the welfare state, putting a halt to its expansion in post-war prosperity. Faced with low growth rates and rising unemployment, the recipe chosen by many countries was to ‘relieve’ labour markets. Alongside such measures as early retirement schemes, family policy was a key part of the reform programme and recourse to parental leave

scholarly journals Ambivalence about Children in the Family Building Process in Sweden

2014 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 57-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Bernhardt ◽  
Frances Goldscheider
Keyword(s):  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
First Child ◽  
Building Process ◽  
The Family ◽  
Child Allowances ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

Sweden provides strong support for childbearing and parenthood, including generously subsidized medical, maternal, and child care, paid parental leave, and child allowances. In this context, attitudes towards parenthood are likely to have a particularly strong impact on the decision about whether and when to have children. We examine the links between first births and holding attitudes about children, not just of positive and negative attitudes, but also of ambivalence, namely those who both value children but also value the things that compete with parenthood for young adults’ time and other resources. Our analysis shows, measuring attitudes before the transition to parenthood, that ambivalence about childbearing delays the transition to parenthood, but not nearly as much as holding purely negative attitudes. Further, reporting an ambivalent experience from the first child had no significant effect on further childbearing, which testifies to the strong two-child norm in Sweden.

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