The first Rostock Debate on Demographic Change, which took place on February 21, 2006, centered on the following question: Should governments in Europe push much more aggressively for gender equality to raise fertility? The four debaters were Laurent Toulemon from the Institut National...

This paper is based on my contribution to a debate, organized by MPIDR, on the question displayed in the title above. I was asked to present arguments for the "yes"-response (together with Laurent Toulemon, and arguing against the "no"-side represented by Gerda Neyer and Dimiter Philipov). As...

This paper argues against the suggestion that governments should push for gender equality more aggressively in order to raise fertility. The paper presents a threefold “no†to this proposal. It takes issue with the goal of raising fertility, arguing that the claims that fertility must...

It has been argued in sociology, economics, and evolutionary anthropology that family size limitation enhances the intergenerational upward mobility chances in modernized societies. If parents have a large flock, family resources get diluted and intergenerational mobility is bound to head...

Between 2001 and 2008 Australia’s total fertility increased from 1.73 to 1.96. This period also saw changes to family benefits, most notably the introduction of a universal, flat-rate at birth payment and an increased subsidisation of child care. This paper analyses individual-level...

When parents engage in childbearing with more than one partner or multi-partnered fertility, this gives rise to a complex family system with strong implications for transfers to children. This study therefore seeks to measure the effect of multi-partnered fertility on formal and informal child...

This paper is motivated by the theory that developmental idealism has been disseminated globally and has become an important international force for family and demographic change. Developmental idealism is a set of cultural beliefs and values about development and how development relates to...

In Southern Europe youngsters leave the parental home significantly later than in Northern Europe and United States. In this paper, we study the effect of a monthly cash subsidy on young adults' emancipation, family formation, and fertility. The subsidy, introduced in Spain in 2008, is...