Gender power, fertility, and family policy

Arbeitspapier

The birth of children often shifts the power balance within a family. If family decisions are made according to the spouses' welfare function, this shift in power may lead to a time consistency problem. The allocation of resources after the birth of children may differ from the ex-ante optimal choice. In a model of cooperative decision making within a family, we show that this time consistency problem leads to a systematic downward bias in fertility choices. By keeping fertility low, families try to mitigate the ex-ante undesired shift in the power balance. This bias in fertility choices provides scope for welfare enhancing policy intervention. We discuss the extent to which existing measures in family policy are suitable to overcome the fertility bias.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 3798

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation ; Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
• Subject: fertility ; family policy ; household allocation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Kemnitz, Alexander ; Thum, Marcel
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (where): Munich
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/57951
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET