Public policies supporting families with children across welfare regimes: An empirical assessment of six European countries

Pezer, Martina

doi:10.1177/09589287221080700

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…To estimate the generosity of financial support for parents over the course of childhood and across birth orders, we adopt the method of measuring child‐contingent payments (CCP), in line with the family policy literature (Corak et al, 2005; Figari et al, 2011; Pezer, 2022). This method aggregates all forms of financial support for parents issued at specific points in time and for specific model households, including both allowance‐based and tax‐based provisions, but excluding parental leave.…”

Section: Methods and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This tendency is attributed to shifting consumption needs over the course of childhood, leading to larger expenditure at higher child ages, mostly in domains such as extracurricular activities and entertainment. In terms of parity, it has been shown that each additional child in a household tends to cost less than the preceding child (Corak et al, 2005; Pezer, 2022). This estimation is attributed to the economies of scale that are created between birth orders in expenditure domains such as food, clothing, housing and babysitting, where siblings often enjoy resource‐sharing opportunities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What policy functions are reflected in the distribution of financial support for parents by child age and birth order? An analysis of 28 European countries

Fidanovski

2023

Soc Policy Adm

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Motivated by the growing prominence of fertility incentivisation and long‐term child development in European family policymaking, this paper examines the distribution of financial support for parents over the course of childhood and between birth orders in Europe. We use the term ‘older‐oriented age bias’ to refer to support that is more generous for older children and the term ‘younger‐oriented age bias’ for more generous support for younger children. Similarly, we refer to distribution patterns tilted towards later birth orders as ‘later‐oriented parity bias’ and to those that favour earlier birth orders as ‘earlier‐oriented parity bias’. Based on a list of four classical policy functions of financial support for parents (child cost compensation, fertility incentivisation, child poverty reduction, and child development), we formulate six (sets of) hypotheses for the age and parity distribution of financial support for parents. To assess these distribution patterns, we examine monthly financial support (allowance‐ and tax‐based) for the first four birth orders at child ages 2, 9, and 17 in low‐income and middle‐income households across 28 European countries as of January 2021. We find that European welfare states typically provide more generous support for younger children, while the support distribution in terms of birth orders depends on pre‐support household income. We also find considerable cross‐country heterogeneity, with fertility incentivisation and (especially) child development being reflected by more countries than child cost compensation and poverty reduction. Our analysis sheds light on previously underexplored trends and implications in the design of financial support for parents in Europe.

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Section: Methods and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What policy functions are reflected in the distribution of financial support for parents by child age and birth order? An analysis of 28 European countries

Fidanovski

2023

Soc Policy Adm

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“…The main object of our analysis is households with children, with particular emphasis on the cash and in-kind transfers parents receive on account of children in their household. Children are defined as below 18 years of age but we also include young dependent adults, as in Pezer (2022). Young dependent adults are economically dependent adults up to 25 years of age (students, unemployed, disabled and similar).…”

Section: Methods and Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nguyen and Rubil (2021) conclude that, based on 2018 data, the fiscal system in Croatia reduces inequalities but increases poverty: only direct transfers (disability pensions and benefits, child benefits and guaranteed minimum benefit) reduce poverty, especially for households with three or more children. Previous comparative research on child poverty indicates that Croatian cash transfers to families are less potent than in some European countries (Pezer 2022). Pezer, Urban, and Leventi (2022) demonstrate how the inclusion of subsidies provided by local governments for kindergarten and transport greatly contributes to poverty reduction.…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

The Distributional Impact of Social Spending on In-Kind and Cash Child Transfers in Croatia

Pezer

Mustać

Leventi

2023

South East European Journal of Economics and Business

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Social spending in Croatia is mainly based on social protection, public healthcare and education policies. There are two forms of investing in children through the social spending provided by central and local governments: cash and in-kind transfers. This paper describes the impacts of such social spending on households with children in Croatia and its capital, Zagreb. Making use of a microsimulation model, the income distribution of cash and in-kind transfers and their impacts on poverty and inequality are assessed. Compared to cash transfers, in-kind transfers, including local government subsidies, are relatively evenly distributed, income independent, and thus roughly equally important for the entire population. Their value greatly exceeds that of monetary transfers. Results demonstrate the progressive effect of transfers in kind on income distribution by reducing income inequality and poverty. This research seeks to emphasise the importance of using augmented income in the analysis of income inequality and poverty, instead of solely monetary disposable income.

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“…They have universal social security systems and provide generous sickness, unemployment and pension benefits, regardless of prior earnings (Esping- Andersen, 1990Andersen, , 1999. Next to employment protection, social-democratic regimes make childbearing less costly for employment careers through childcare provision and parental leave (Pezer, 2022). Moreover, they support the dual-earner model, where couples equally participate in the workforce.…”

Section: Welfare Regimementioning

confidence: 99%

Work-family trajectories across Europe: differences between social groups and welfare regimes

Firat,

Visser,

Kraaykamp

2023

Front. Sociol.

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IntroductionWork and family trajectories develop and interact over the life course in complex ways. Previous studies drew a fragmented picture of these trajectories and had limited scope. We provide the most comprehensive study of early-to-midlife work-family trajectories to date.MethodsUsing retrospective data from waves 3 and 7 of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we reconstructed work-family trajectories from age 15 to 49 among almost 80,000 individuals born between 1908 and 1967 across 28 countries. We applied multichannel sequence and cluster analysis to identify typical trajectories and multinomial logistic regression models to uncover their social composition.ResultsThe results revealed six common trajectories. The dominant and therefore standard trajectory represents continuous full-time employment with having a partner and children. Women, the lower educated and persons from conservative and liberal welfare regimes are underrepresented in this trajectory, whereas men, higher educated people and those from social-democratic, Eastern European and Baltic welfare regimes are overrepresented. The other trajectories denote a deviation from the standard one, integrating a non-standard form of work with standard family formation or vice versa. Mothers in a stable relationship generally work part-time or not at all. When mostly in full-time employment, women are more likely to be divorced. Lower educated persons are less likely to have work-family trajectories characterized by full-time work and a non-standard family, yet more likely to be non-employed for large parts of their life with standard family formation. Younger cohorts are underrepresented in non-employment trajectories, but overrepresented in part-time employment trajectories along with a partner and children as well as full-time employment trajectories with divorce. Individuals from Southern European and liberal regimes are more likely to be non-working and self-employed partnered parents and those from social-democratic regimes are more likely to be full-time employed divorced parents. We also found pronounced gender differences in how educational level, birth cohort and welfare regime are associated with work-family trajectories from early to midlife.DiscussionOur findings highlight the socially stratified nature of earlier-life work-family trajectories in Europe. Potential implications for inequalities in later life are discussed.

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Public policies supporting families with children across welfare regimes: An empirical assessment of six European countries

Cited by 10 publications

References 37 publications

What policy functions are reflected in the distribution of financial support for parents by child age and birth order? An analysis of 28 European countries

What policy functions are reflected in the distribution of financial support for parents by child age and birth order? An analysis of 28 European countries

The Distributional Impact of Social Spending on In-Kind and Cash Child Transfers in Croatia

Work-family trajectories across Europe: differences between social groups and welfare regimes

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