Dare to Share: Germany's Experience Promoting Equal Partnership in Families (eBook)

Oecd (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2017 | 1. Auflage
240 Seiten
OECD Publishing (Verlag)
978-92-64-25915-7 (ISBN)

Infos

This review introduces the background to and issues at stake in promoting equal partnerships in families in Germany.  It encourages German policy makers to build on the important reforms since the mid-2000s to enable both fathers and mothers to have careers and children, and urges families to “dare to share”. To those ends it places Germany’s experience in an international comparison, and draws from the experience in, for example, France and the Nordic countries which have longstanding policies to support work-life balance and strengthen gender equality. The review starts with an overview chapter also explaining why and how equal sharing pays for families, children, the economy and society as a whole. The book presents current outcomes, policy trends, as well as detailed analysis of the drivers of paid and unpaid work and how more equal partnerships in families may help sustain fertility rates.  The book examines policies to promote partnership, looking both at persistent shortcomings and progress achieved through reform since the mid-2000s. The book includes a set of policy recommendations designed to enable parents to share work and family responsibilities more equally.

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This review introduces the background to and issues at stake in promoting equal partnerships in families in Germany. It encourages German policy makers to build on the important reforms since the mid-2000s to enable both fathers and mothers to have careers and children, and urges families to "e;dare to share"e;. To those ends it places Germany's experience in an international comparison, and draws from the experience in, for example, France and the Nordic countries which have longstanding policies to support work-life balance and strengthen gender equality. The review starts with an overview chapter also explaining why and how equal sharing pays for families, children, the economy and society as a whole. The book presents current outcomes, policy trends, as well as detailed analysis of the drivers of paid and unpaid work and how more equal partnerships in families may help sustain fertility rates. The book examines policies to promote partnership, looking both at persistent shortcomings and progress achieved through reform since the mid-2000s. The book includes a set of policy recommendations designed to enable parents to share work and family responsibilities more equally.

Inhalt

Foreword 5
Table of contents 7
Acronyms and abbreviations 13
Executive summary 15
Chapter 1. Dare to share: Germany’s experience with promoting equal partnership in families 17
1. Introduction 18
2. Sharing pays for families 19
3. Sharing pays for society as a whole 27
4. Preparing for sharing: Social policies can promote partnership in families 28
Chapter 2. Partnerships, family composition and the division of labour: Germany in the context of the OECD 39
1. Introduction and main findings 40
2. Most children live in couple families, but many families still have few children 41
3. Inequality and inefficiency in the labour market: German women work, but mothers are often trapped in part-time jobs 45
4. Inequality in unpaid work: Women still do the lion’s share of work at home 56
5. Germans feel the pinch of work-life conflict 58
6. Can Germany’s labour force afford equal partnership? 62
7. Concluding remarks 65
Notes 67
References 68
Annex 2.A1. Estimating the effects of changes in male and female patterns of paid work on the German labour force and German GDP per capita 71
Chapter 3. Policies to support equal partnerships in families in Germany 77
1. Introduction and main findings 78
2. Families benefit from gender-equal family policies 80
3. Financial incentives to encourage both parents to work 87
4. Parental leave policies can change fathers’ parenting behaviour and help mothers resume work more quickly 92
5. Policies towards a flexible “family working-time model” 99
6. Rolling out a comprehensive early childhood education and care policy and supporting parents as children grow older 101
7. Time for work and the family: policies and stakeholder agreements to promote flexible work schedules 110
8. Concluding remarks 115
Notes 117
References 119
Annex 3.A1. Tax-benefit models: Methodology and limitations 128
Annex 3.A2. Estimating the effects of a hypothetical “family-working time” scheme on the size of the German labour force 130
Chapter 4. Earning and working unequally: Partnered parents in paid work 135
1. Introduction and main findings 136
2. Coupled parents’ working-hour patterns vary across the OECD 137
3. Mothers contribute less than fathers to household earnings in couple families across the OECD 152
4. What makes mothers choose full- or part-time employment? 157
5. Concluding remarks 163
Notes 164
References 165
Annex 4.A1. Working hours of mothers and fathers and fathers’ reasons for part-time work 168
Annex 4.A2. Predicted probabilities of full-time employment among mothers with a dependent child 171
Chapter 5. How partners in couples share unpaid work 173
1. Introduction and main findings 174
2. Sharing among couples 175
3. Sharing among couples of working age 180
4. Sharing among parents 188
5. Concluding remarks 201
Notes 202
References 204
Annex 5.A1. Overview of the time use surveys analysed 209
Chapter 6. Equal sharing and having children in Germany and France 211
1. Introduction and main findings 212
2. Fertility trends in Germany and the OECD 214
3. The gap between actual and desired family size 217
4. Combining work and family formation: a key determinant of fertility 219
5. What influence of reconciliation policies? 225
6. Concluding remarks 226
Notes 228
References 229
Annex 6.A1. Jobs or babies? A comparison of fertility behaviour in Germany and France 233

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 20.2.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Sozialpädagogik
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Volkswirtschaftslehre
• ISBN-10: 92-64-25915-5 / 9264259155
• ISBN-13: 978-92-64-25915-7 / 9789264259157