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Should governments in Europe be more aggressive in pushing for gender equality to raise fertility? The second "NO"

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  • Gerda Neyer

    (Stockholms Universitet)

Abstract

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 be increased are based on myths. It rejects a more aggressive pursuit of gender equality for demographic purposes, maintaining that this method preserves inequality. It warns against using gender equality for fertility purposes, stating that this narrows the realm of gender equality. The paper is based on a debate held at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, at which the author was asked to argue against the gender equality-fertility proposal. The other participants in the debate were Laurent Toulemon (“yes”), Dimiter Philipov (“no”), and Livia Oláh (“yes”).

Suggested Citation

  • Gerda Neyer, 2011. "Should governments in Europe be more aggressive in pushing for gender equality to raise fertility? The second "NO"," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 24(10), pages 225-250.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:24:y:2011:i:10
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2011.24.10
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thomas Lindh, 2005. "Productivity Is a System Property and Need Not Decrease with the Age of the Workforce," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 3(1), pages 7-9.
    2. Richard Easterlin, 1978. "What will 1984 be like? Socioeconomic implications of recent twists in age structure," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 15(4), pages 397-432, November.
    3. David Coleman, 2009. "Divergent Patterns in the Ethnic Transformation of Societies," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 449-478, September.
    4. Susan Watkins, 1993. "If all we knew about women was what we read in Demography, what would we know?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(4), pages 551-577, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Sigle, Wendy, 2021. "Demography’s theory and approach: (how) has the view from the margins changed?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112467, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fertility; gender; Europe; family policy; migration; gender equality; low fertility; labor market; welfare state;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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