The costs of raising children and the effectiveness of policies to support parenthood in European countries: a Literature Review

The purpose of this report is to produce an overview of available knowledge about the following issues:  the costs (to parents) of parenthood and of raising children in European Countries;  the effectiveness, in the short and long term, of various policy measures in avoiding or compensating for those costs; 8  the impact of different policy instruments aimed at supporting families according to various policy objectives, e.g. achieving family projects, reconciling family and working life, reducing child poverty, raising the levels of education and well being of children, and increasing equal opportunities.  the wider economic and social costs and benefits of policy interventions in support of families. The current state of knowledge on the following issues is presented as follows in this review report:  The costs of children and the challenges for public policies supporting parenthood (chapter 1); author: O. Thévenon  The policy instruments used in the EU to support families and reduce the costs of parenthood (Chapter 2); authors: A. Math and O. Thévenon  The impacts of these policies on families: o On fertility and the decision to have children (chapter 3); authors M-Th. Letablier and O. Thévenon o On parents‘ participation in the labour market, gender equality and work-life balance (chapter 4); authors: M-Th. Letablier, A. Luci, O. Thévenon o On children‘s well-being (chapter 5): M-Th. Letablier and O. Thévenon  The wider economic and social costs and benefits of such policies (Chapter 6); author: A. Luci. The review of literature presented in this report attempts to make the tools, goals and impacts of family policies more clear and comparable across countries, in order to facilitate the circulation of knowledge between Member States, notably in the context of the European Alliance for Families and the newly established High Level Experts Group on Demography Issues. The report provides a review of recent literature and available data material on the direct and indirect costs of raising children in the European Union (using international as well as particularly important national studies). Ground breaking studies from countries outside the EU, of particular interest from a methodological point of view, are also included in the review. Focus is on the following kinds of costs of having and raising children over the long and short term: - Direct financial costs, e.g. for housing, health care, education, child care, - Indirect financial costs, e.g. for lost income, lost pension rights, lost career prospects etc. , also taking into account the impact on gender roles and gender equality. The costs of raising children are examined at the different phases of their development, from birth through to the age at which they become autonomous. The overview also summarizes knowledge on the main determinants of costs, including, the effects of the number of children, the socio-economic status of parents, and the family structure. Significant differences in cost levels and structures across Member States are identified. The overview also identifies gaps in the available knowledge, and highlights some issues for future research that have the potential to contribute to a better understanding of the policy impact and to better comparability across the European Union.cost of children; family policies; work and family life reconciliation; fertility; female employment

Critical Review of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe Conference Report

This report was produced by FAMILYPLATFORM. FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH-2009-3.2.2 Social platform on research for families and family policies) is funded by the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (€1,400,000) and has a duration of 18 months (October 2009 – March 2011). The consortium consists of the following 12 organisations: 1) Technical University Dortmund (Coordinators); 2) State Institute for Family Research, University of Bamberg; 3) Family Research Centre, University of Jyväskylä; 4) Austrian Institute for Family Studies, University of Vienna; 5) Demographic Research Institute, Budapest; 6) Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon; 7) Department of Sociology and Social research, University of Milan-Bicocca; 8) Institute of International and Social Studies, Tallinn University; 9) London School of Economics; 10) Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE), Brussels; 11) Forum delle Associazioni Familiari, Italy; 12) Mouvement Mondial des Mères, Brussels; Contact [email protected] or visit http://www.familyplatform.eu for more information.The aim of this Critical Review Report is to describe and report on the international conference "Families and Family Policies in Europe - A Critical Review", wich took place in Lisbon, at the Institute for Social Sciences (University of Lisbon), in May 2010. Organized by FAMILYPLATFORM consortium, the main objective of this 3 day conference was to carry out a critical review of existing research on families and family policies in Europe. Drawing on expert reviews of the state of the art, critical statements by stakeholders and policy makers, and debate on the major challenges for research and policies, the conference was organized with a view to providing a major forum for discussing and identifying the design of future family policies and research.FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH 2009.2.2 Social platform on research for families and family  policies):  funded  by  the  European  Unions 7th Framework Programme for 18 months (October 2009 – March 2011)

The Changing Face of The Family in Ireland: Parenting Issues

This report examines family policy in Ireland, highlighting the substantial amount of service activity which are currently supporting families and, at the same time, the general awareness that significant gaps exist in services. Consequently, Mckeown and Clarke outline a selection of project ideas which might be used to fill some of these gaps, particularly with regard to supporting parents. These are based on a consideration of the statutory initiatives in place, some broadly focussed voluntary organisations and voluntary activity at local level

Same-Sex Families and Legal Recognition in Europe

This open access book focuses on family diversity from a legal, demographical and sociological perspective. It investigates what is at stake in the life of homosexuals in the field of family formation, parenting and parenthood, what it brings to everyday life, the support of the law, and what its absence implies. The book shows the paths leading to the adoption of laws while demographic analyses concentrate on the link between registration of same-sex marriages and same-sex parenting with a detailed focus on Spain. The sociological chapters in this book, based upon qualitative surveys in France, Iceland and Italy, underline how the importance of the legal structure influenced the daily life of homosexual families. As such this book is an interesting read to lawyers, demographers, sociologists, behavioural scientists, and all those working in the field

Beyond Biology: Bases For a Child-Centered and Functional Account of Parenthood

This dissertation argues that the presently influential Catholic theological account of parenthood is indebted to an essentialist theory of gender and the system of sexual ethical reasoning it produces. In consideration of the family, Catholicism tends to favor the differentiated gender roles of the father as the primary financial provider and the mother as the primary caregiver. Though such thinking is often justified as natural or traditional, it relies heavily upon a post-Victorian social context. This gender complementarity is often accompanied by an idealization of the autonomous biological-nuclear family. This family is autonomous in granting parents alone direct responsibility for the household and certain rights to privacy; biological in assuming continuity among genetic, gestational, and social parenthood; and nuclear in centering on a married couple without essential bonds beyond the parent-parent and parent-child relationships. Importantly, this theory of gender and human sexuality appears not only to reject voluntary participation in placing children with same-sex partners, but so privileges the biological family that it may undermine Catholic participation in, and theological reflection on, adoption more generally. This approach produces a constricted theology of parenthood which governs thought on childrearing, yet does not meaningfully engage the Catholic Church\u27s long and diverse history of orphan care and does little to integrate contemporary social scientific studies of child wellbeing

Predictors of Positive Parenting and Use of Spanking Among Low Income, Predominantly Single, African American Mothers of Toddlers

A large body of research emphasizes the key role of maternal parenting in fostering positive outcomes for children, particularly during children's early years. Given this literature, it is important to identify factors that predict positive parenting, especially in the most vulnerable populations of families with young children. Therefore, this study used secondary data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study (FFCW) to examine predictors of positive parenting and use of spanking in a sample of 1,161 low income, predominantly single, African American mothers of toddlers (mean age of 13 months). Study mothers had limited education, with 82% having a high school degree or less. An ecological risk and resilience framework was used to investigate the potential risk and protective role of four microsystem variables, including maternal education, maternal health, parenting stress, and number of children; one child characteristic, the presence or absence of a toddler with asthma; and one mesosystem factor, paternal support, in predicting the two parenting outcomes. Findings revealed that mothers engaged in many positive parenting practices and approximately one quarter (26.4%) had spanked their toddler within the previous month. Results of linear regression analysis indicated that better maternal health, lower parenting stress, more paternal support, and having a child with asthma were predictive of mothers' engagement in more positive parenting practices. Logistic regression analysis revealed that more parenting stress, lower paternal support, better maternal health, only one child in the home, and having a child without asthma predicted greater maternal use of spanking. Maternal education was not found to be a predictor of either parenting behavior. Results revealed that study mothers engaged in more nurturing and caregiving activities than learning activities with their toddlers. Overall, findings suggest that family practitioners and health care professionals should introduce culturally sensitive interventions to reduce parenting stress, increase paternal support, and improve maternal health among this population of low income mothers. Programs should continue to support mothers with asthmatic children, educate all mothers about alternatives to spanking, and encourage maternal engagement in activities that foster toddlers' cognitive development. Additional implications of the study for policymakers and program developers are discussed