IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v11y2023i1p269-281.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Growing Pains: Can Family Policies Revert the Decline of Fertility in Spain?

Author

Listed:
  • Begoña Elizalde-San Miguel

    (Department of Sociology and Social Work, Public University of Navarre, Spain)

  • Vicente Díaz Gandasegui

    (Department of Social Analysis, University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)

  • María T. Sanz

    (Department of Didactics of Mathematics, University of Valencia, Spain)

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the capability of family policies to reverse the sharp decline in fertility that has been observed in Spain in recent decades. The analysis was carried out by applying two mathematical techniques: the genetic algorithm and the strategic scenarios. Firstly, a mathematical model was designed and validated adjusting the combined performance of fertility and family policies during the 2008–2019 period. Subsequently, this model was applied to the future (2020–2060) to extrapolate the evolution of fertility considering different models of family policies. The results demonstrate that a model of family policies that is coherent with other socially desirable objectives, such as gender and social equality, will be insufficient to reverse the current downward trend in fertility. Therefore, these outcomes point to the need to articulate and harmonize diverse public policies considering the principles of equality and well‐being to modify the recent decline in fertility. An increase in fertility must therefore be identified as a socially desirable goal and public policies must be adapted to this objective, in the understanding that fertility not only requires family policies but also their coherence with the employment and educational policies and work–life balance mechanisms offered by public institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Begoña Elizalde-San Miguel & Vicente Díaz Gandasegui & María T. Sanz, 2023. "Growing Pains: Can Family Policies Revert the Decline of Fertility in Spain?," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 269-281.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v:11:y:2023:i:1:p:269-281
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/6141
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Begoña Elizalde-San Miguel & Vicente Díaz Gandasegui & Maria T. Sanz García, 2019. "Family Policy Index: A Tool for Policy Makers to Increase the Effectiveness of Family Policies," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 387-409, February.
    2. Francesca Luppi & Bruno Arpino & Alessandro Rosina, 2020. "The impact of COVID-19 on fertility plans in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(47), pages 1399-1412.
    3. Gerda Neyer & Trude Lappegård & Daniele Vignoli, 2013. "Gender Equality and Fertility: Which Equality Matters?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 245-272, August.
    4. Alyce Raybould & Rebecca Sear, 2021. "Children of the (gender) revolution: A theoretical and empirical synthesis of how gendered division of labour influences fertility," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 75(2), pages 169-190, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jacques‐Antoine Gauthier & Vida Česnuitytė, 2023. "Family in Challenging Circumstances: Ways of Coping," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 210-213.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barbara S. Okun & Liat Raz‐Yurovich, 2019. "Housework, Gender Role Attitudes, and Couples' Fertility Intentions: Reconsidering Men's Roles in Gender Theories of Family Change," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(1), pages 169-196, March.
    2. Hubert Pinto, 2023. "Relationship between Gender Roles and Marital Stability among Couples in Selected Counties of Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(10), pages 1629-1647, October.
    3. Emery, Tom & Koops, Judith C., 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Fertility behaviour and Intentions in the Republic of Moldova," SocArXiv fcqd9, Center for Open Science.
    4. Branislav Šprocha, 2022. "Growing Childlessness and One‐Child Families in Slovakia in the Shadow of Fragile Pronatalism," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 100-111.
    5. Yue Yin & Ye Jiang, 2023. "Fertility Effects of Labor Market Conditions at Graduation," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(4), pages 120-152, July.
    6. Chiara Ludovica Comolli, 2021. "Couples' paid work, state-level unemployment, and first births in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(38), pages 1149-1184.
    7. Hubert Pinto, 2023. "Relationship between Gender Roles and Marital Stability among Couples in Selected Counties of Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(8), pages 1417-1434, August.
    8. Anna Kurowska & Anna Matysiak & Beata Osiewalska, 2023. "Working from Home During Covid-19 Pandemic and Changes to Fertility Intentions Among Parents," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-31, December.
    9. LUPPI, FRANCESCA & Arpino, Bruno & Rosina, Alessandro, 2022. "Dismissed and newly planned babies during the COVID-19 pandemic. A study of the motivations behind changes in fertility plans and behaviors in Italy," SocArXiv qpwba, Center for Open Science.
    10. Bodnár, Katalin & Nerlich, Carolin, 2022. "The macroeconomic and fiscal impact of population ageing," Occasional Paper Series 296, European Central Bank.
    11. Luca Maria Pesando & Alejandra Abufhele, 2022. "Declining Quantity and Quality of Births in Chile Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic," Working Papers 20220081, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Nov 2022.
    12. Sobotka, Tomas & Jasilioniene, Aiva & Galarza, Ainhoa Alustiza & Zeman, Kryštof & Nemeth, Laszlo & Jdanov, Dmitri, 2021. "Baby bust in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? First results from the new STFF data series," SocArXiv mvy62, Center for Open Science.
    13. Arpino, Bruno & LUPPI, FRANCESCA & Rosina, Alessandro, 2021. "Regional trends in births during the COVID-19 crisis in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain," SocArXiv mnwh8, Center for Open Science.
    14. Kamila Ishchanova, 2022. "Home Alone: Exploring Childcare Options to Remove Barriers to Second Childbearing in Belarus," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 112-123.
    15. Hippolyte d’ALBIS & Paula E. GOBBI & Angela GREULICH, 2017. "Having a Second Child and Access to Childcare : Evidence from European Countries," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(2), pages 177-210, June.
    16. Arpino, Bruno & LUPPI, FRANCESCA & Rosina, Alessandro, 2021. "Changes in fertility plans during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: the role of occupation and income vulnerability," SocArXiv 4sjvm, Center for Open Science.
    17. Lawrence M Berger & Giulia Ferrari & Marion Leturcq & Lidia Panico & Anne Solaz, 2021. "COVID-19 lockdowns and demographically-relevant Google Trends: A cross-national analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-28, March.
    18. Angela Greulich & Olivier Thevenon & Mathilde Guergoat-Larivière, 2016. "Securing women's employment: A fertility booster in European countries?," Post-Print hal-01298862, HAL.
    19. Arpino, Bruno & Pasqualini, Marta & Bordone, Valeria & Solé-Auró, Aïda, 2020. "Indirect consequences of COVID-19 on people’s lives. Findings from an on-line survey in France, Italy and Spain," SocArXiv 4sfv9, Center for Open Science.
    20. Qi Yang & Jianyuan Huang, 2020. "Content Analysis of Family Policy Instruments to Promote the Sustainable Development of Families in China from 1989–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v:11:y:2023:i:1:p:269-281. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.