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Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between two different family policy dimensions – one supporting the combination of work and parenthood and one supporting stay-at-home mothers – and fertility rates between 1995 and 2011 in 33 industrialized countries.


Design/methodology/approach
Total fertility rates were regressed on the two policy dimensions, earner–carer support and traditional–family support, using pooled time-series analysis with country fixed effects and stepwise control for female labor force participation, unemployment rates and GDP.


Findings
The analyses show that earner–carer support is linked to higher fertility, while traditional–family support is not. Also, higher female labor force participation is linked to higher fertility before GDP is included. Conversely, higher unemployment is correlated with lower fertility levels. Sensitivity analyses with and without day care enrollment on a smaller set of countries show no influence of day care on the results for family policy.


Originality/value
The results give weight to the argument that family policies supporting the combination of work and parenthood could increase fertility in low-fertility countries, probably mediated in part by female labor force participation. Earnings-related earner–carer support incentivizes women to enter the labor force before parenthood and to return to work after time off with their newborn child, thus supporting a combination of work and parenthood.

T. Ferrarini, O. Sjöberg. Social policy and health: transition countries in a comparative perspectiveInt J Soc Welfare 2010: ••: ••–••© 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare.This article analyses the development and design of unemployment insurance and family policy benefits and their links to health outcomes in Estonia, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary from the mid‐1990s. Comparing these six transition countries with long‐standing welfare democracies reveals important similarities and differences in policy and health. Unemployment benefit schemes resemble corporatist schemes in important respects, however, with lower coverage and average benefits. Subjective wellbeing is also comparatively low among both employed and unemployed in the transition countries. Several transition countries have mixed family policy strategies that simultaneously support dual‐earner families and traditional gender roles. One clear exception is Slovenia, which has a highly developed dual‐earner support. Family policy generosity is related to lower rates of poverty, infant mortality and child injuries. The article demonstrates the fruitfulness of institutional analyses of the link between social policy and population health in a broader welfare state context.

Ferrarini T, Norström T. Family policy, economic development and infant mortality: a longitudinal comparative analysisInt J Soc Welfare 2010: ••: ••–••© 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare.In the present study, the impact of family policy legislation and economic development on infant mortality was estimated. Time series analyses indicate that economic growth decreased infant mortality in the earlier part of the 20th century, while the postwar period showed a zero or even a reversed correlation between economic development and child health. The results from fixed effects modelling of data for 18 welfare democracies for the period 1970–2000 are in line with the hypothesis that the more generous the earnings‐related parental leave benefits, the lower the infant mortality.

Welfare state regimes vary in their strategies of redistribution. Some welfare states have extensive taxable social insurance schemes, while others rely more on non-taxable means-tested benefits. In order to assess the distributive effects of different programme types, it is necessary to analyse social insurance after taxes, something rarely practised in comparative research. In this paper, we evaluate distributive effects of social insurance after taking taxes into account in 10 welfare states. The main question is to what extent income taxes affect the contribution of social insurance to income inequality. The conclusion is that taxation may have important consequences for both inter- and intra-country comparisons of income redistribution, especially if countries with similar social policy systems are compared. The analyses are based on micro-level income data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS).

Women's rising labor force participation since the 1960's was long seen as heralding decreasing gender inequalities. According to influential social science writings this view has now to be revised; 'women friendly' policies bringing women into the workforce are held to create major inequality tradeoffs between quantity and quality in women's jobs. Unintendedly, such policies increase employer statistical discrimination and create glass ceilings impeding women's access to influential positions and high wages. This paper re-examines theoretical and empirical bases in analysis of family policy effects on gender inequalities. Including capabilities as well as earnings in definitions of gender inequality, we improve possibilities for causal analyses by mapping institutional constellations of separate dimensions of family policies in Western countries. Reflecting conflicting political forces as well as religion, contrary to accepted assumptions of uni-dimensionality, family policies are multi-dimensional, with main distinctions favoring traditional families, mother's employment, or market reliance. Using multilevel analyses and broad sets of outcome variables, we show that methodological mistakes largely invalidate earlier causal interpretations of major tradeoffs between quantity and quality in women's labor force participation. Positive policy effects facilitate work-family reconciliation and combine women's increased labor force participation with relatively high fertility. While major negative policy effects for women with tertiary education are difficult to find, family policies clearly differ in the extent to which they improve opportunities for women without university degrees.

This groundbreaking book brings together perspectives from political philosophy and comparative social policy to discuss generational justice. Contributing new insights about the preconditions for designing sustainable, inclusive policies for all of society, the authors expose the possibilities of supporting egalitarian principles in an aging society through balanced generational welfare contracts.

RésuméNous présentons dans cet article un cadre conceptuel et théorique pour une analyse comparative améliorée de la protection sociale publique dans les pays en développement, sur la base des recherches déjà entreprises sur les systèmes sociaux établis de longue date dans les démocraties. Un élément important de l'approche institutionnelle proposée est l'établissement d'indicateurs qualitatifs et quantitatifs comparables pour la protection sociale. L'exemple empirique des prestations pour enfants montre qu'il convient de ne pas exagérer les différences entre pays développés et pays en développement. En outre, la prévalence des prestations pour enfants dans les pays de l'Afrique subsaharienne et de l'Amérique latine ressemble à celle observée durant l'entre‐deux‐guerres (1919‐1938) dans les régions développées.

AuszugDer Artikel umreißt einen konzeptuellen und theoretischen Rahmen für eine verbesserte vergleichende Analyse öffentlich bereitgestellten Sozialschutzes in Entwicklungsländern und stützt sich dabei auf die Forschungstradition der Analyse seit langem bestehender demokratischer Wohlfahrtsstaaten. Ein wichtiges Element des vorgeschlagenen institutionellen Ansatzes ist die Erstellung vergleichbarer qualitativer und quantitativer Sozialschutzindikatoren. Das empirische Beispiel des Kindergeldes zeigt, dass Unterschiede zwischen Industrie‐ und Entwicklungsländern nicht übertrieben werden sollten und dass die Kindergeldleistungen in afrikanischen Ländern südlich der Sahara und in Lateinamerika heute dem Niveau der Zeit zwischen den Weltkriegen (1919‐1938) in den Industrieregionen gleichen.

Resumen  El artículo esboza un marco conceptual y teórico con el fin de realizar un análisis comparativo optimizado de la protección social pública en los países en desarrollo, basándose en la investigación habitual del estudio de las democracias tradicionales del bienestar. Un elemento importante del enfoque institucional propuesto es la definición de indicadores cualitativos y cuantitativos comparables de protección social. El ejemplo práctico de los subsidios infantiles revela que no hay que exagerar las diferencias entre los países desarrollados y los países en desarrollo, y que la incidencia actual de los subsidios infantiles en los países del África subsahariana y de América Latina recuerda a la situación del periodo de entreguerras (1919‐1938) en las regiones desarrolladas.

This groundbreaking book brings together perspectives from political philosophy and comparative social policy to discuss generational justice. Contributing new insights about the preconditions for designing sustainable, inclusive policies for all of society, the authors expose the possibilities of supporting egalitarian principles in an ageing society through balanced generational welfare contracts. Welfare states are largely structured around social risks that appear in distinct phases of human life, including childhood, working age and old age. By empirically analysing the causes and consequences of social policy in a large number of countries, the authors show that balanced generational welfare contracts - in which age-related social protection is more evenly distributed across different stages of life - is to the advantage of all age groups, therefore contributing to social justice and welfare state sustainability. The authors offer a combination of descriptive data analysis and statistical regressions to provide robust evidence that countries can avoid generational trade-offs in policymaking and find positive-sum solutions. Appealing to academics, researchers and students of politics and social policy, The Generational Welfare Contract gives expert insight into the possibilities for success in future welfare states