Should governments in Europe be more aggressive in pushing for gender equality to raise fertility? The second

Gerda Neyer

doi:10.4054/DemRes.2011.24.10

Volume 24 - Article 10 | Pages 225–250

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

By Gerda Neyer

Date received:

24 Aug 2010

Date published:

2 Feb 2011

Word count:

6782

Keywords:

Europe, family policy, fertility, gender, gender equality, labor market, low fertility, migration, welfare state

DOI:

10.4054/DemRes.2011.24.10

Supplementary Material:

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This article is part of the Special Collection 9 "Rostock Debate on Demographic Change"

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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”).