Family solidarity, gender equality, and fertility
The three dimensions
- Family solidarity: This typically refers to the traditional family structure.
- Gender equality (sexual equality): This typically refers to ex ante symmetry between the sexes in their starting points in negotiation of family rules, as well as close to statistical parity in the ex post division of roles between the sexes.
- Fertility: How many children women have.
Types of policies
| Policy type | Prototype | Family policy page | Relation with family solidarity | Relation with gender equality | Relation with fertility |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro-traditionalist | Germany | Family policy in Germany | Pro | Neutral, somewhat anti in practice | Neutral by default, but somewhat pro in stated intention in practice (though some pro-traditionalist policies are strongly pronatalist), might be anti in effect in practice |
| Pro-egalitarian | Sweden | Family policy in Sweden | Neutral, somewhat anti in practice | Pro | Neutral by default, may be pro or anti in practice depending on the form of execution |
| Pro-natalist | France | Family policy in France | Neutral, may be pro or anti | Neutral, may be pro or anti | Pro |
| Non-interventionist with means-tested help and some forms of recourse | UK, USA | Family policy in UK, Family policy in USA | Pro in the weak sense of helping families that already exist when they really need it | Pro in the weak sense of protecting negative rights | Neutral, may be pro or anti in practice |
Mixed models: East Asian countries have generally combined aspects of pro-traditionalist and pro-natalist policies. Examples include Japan (family policy in Japan) and Singapore (family policy in Singapore).