Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Pronatalism and women's equality policies

Natalisme et politiques d'égalité des femmes (en anglais)

  • Articles
  • Published:
European Journal of Population / Revue européenne de Démographie Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Since pronatalism and women's equality are terms that cover a broad spectrum of ideas and practices, the article first examines various definitions of pronatalist, pronatal and women's equality policies. The major focus is on policies designed to enhance women's economic equality or independence, and on various forms of state assistance to families with children. A matrix of six sets of specific policies is constructed to determine which broadly conceived pronatal policies are most compatible with policies pursuing women's economic equality and vice versa. The main thesis of the article is that broadly conceived women's equality policies, which address systemic and indirect discrimination, offer a new rationale for policies which in other contexts may be called pronatal. Parental leaves, childcare services, flexible work arrangements, re-entry training programs, and social security and taxation policies that do not penalize women for motherhood have been promoted as measures of equal opportunities for women, but they can be also seen as having a pronatal potential, irrespective of the increase in the birth rate being an explicit objective.

Résumé

Du fait que le natalisme et l'égalité des femmes sont des termes qui couvrent un large spectre d'idées et de pratiques, cet article examine d'abord les diverses définitions que l'on peut en donner. Il se concentre ensuite sur les politiques menées en vue d'accroître l'égalité ou l'indépendendance économique des femmes, et sur diverses formes d'aides de l'État aux familles ayant des enfants. Une matrice de six types de politiques spécifiques est élaborée en vue de déterminer lesquelles, parmi les politiques natalistes, sont les plus compatibles avec des politiques menées en vue de l'égalité économique des femmes, et vice versa. La principale thèse de cet article est que des politiques largement conçues en vue de l'égalité des femmes, qui touchent toute discrimination systématique ou indirecte, offrent une nouvelle base pour des politiques, qui dans d'autres contextes peuvent être considérées comme natalistes. Les congés parentaux, les services de soins aux enfants, la flexibilité des conditions de travail, les programmes de formation pour la réinsertion, et les politiques de sécurité sociale et de taxation qui ne pénalisent pas les femmes du fait de leur maternité ont été proposées comme des mesures d'égalité pour les femmes. En fait elles peuvent être également considérées comme ayant un potentiel nataliste, en dépit du fait qu'elles n'aient pas été conçues avec l'objectif explicite d'augmenter les naissances.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andorka, Rudolf, 1978, Determinants of fertility in advanced societies (Methuen, London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, Maureen, 1990, The politics of declining fertility: Family policy in Quebec, Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association, Victoria, B.C., May 26–30.

  • Blake, Judith, 1974, Coercive pronatalism and American population policy, in: Ellen Peck and Judith Senderowitz, eds., Pronatalism. The myth of mom and apple pie (Thomas Y. Crowell, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bock, Gisela, 1984, Motherhood, compulsory sterilization, and the state, in: Renate Bridenthal, Atina Grossmann, and Marion Kaplan, eds., When biology became destiny. Women in Weimar and Nazi Germany (Monthly Review Press, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brundtland, Gro Harlem, 1983, Statement by the chairman of the conference at the opening session, in: Proceedings of the European Population Conference 1982 (Council of Europe, Strasbourg) 13–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burch, Thomas, 1986, Pronatalist policies: An appraisal with special reference to the Canadian demographic situation, A report prepared for the review of demography and its implications for social and economic policies, Health and Welfare Canada.

  • Byre, Angela, 1988, Applying community standards on equality, in: Mary Buckley and Malcolm Anderson, eds., Women, equality and Europe (Macmillan, London) 20–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chenais, Jean-Claude, 1983, Fertility and the state, in: Proceedings of the European Population Conference 1982 (Council of Europe, Strasbourg) 367–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clichet, Pierre, 1984, Quebec's family policy: Social policy or demographic policy, in: XXth International CFR Seminar on Social Change and Family Policies, Melbourne, Australia, August 19–24, Final papers, Part 5 (The Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne) 58–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • COFACE, 1985, Women's rights and family policy (COFACE, Brussels).

    Google Scholar 

  • COFACE, 1986, Families and demographic facts (COFACE, Brussels).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, Bronwen, 1988, Caring for children services and policies for childcare and equal opportunities in the United Kingdom, Report for the European Commission's Childcare Network (Commission of the European Communites, London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Darnton, Nina, 1990, Mommy vs. mommy, Newsweek, June 4.

  • Davies, Patricia Wynn, 1989, The battle against bias, The Sunday Times, January 29.

  • Demeny, Paul, 1986a, Population and the invisible hand, Demography 23, 473–487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demeny, Paul, 1986b, Pronatalist policies in low-fertility countries: Patterns, performance, and prospects, Population and Development Review 12 (Supplement), 335–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Sandre, Paolo, 1978, Critical study of population policies in Europe, in: Council of Europe, ed., Population decline in Europe (St. Martin's Press. New York) 145–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eichler, Margrit, 1983, Families in Canada today. Recent changes and their policy consequences (Gage, Toronto).

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission Childcare Network, 1990, Childcare in the European Community, Women of Europe, Supplements (Commission of the European Communities, Brussels).

    Google Scholar 

  • European Communities Commission, 1986, Equal opportunities for women. Medium term community programme 1986–90, Bulletin of the European Communities, Supplement 3.

  • European People's Party (CD) of the European Parliament, 1988, Towards a European family policy. Text adopted by the Steering Committee of the EPP Women's Organization on 1 February 1988 in Brussel, European Digest 56, 147–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frejka, Tomas, 1974, Which road will population take on the way to the 21st century?, People 1, 5–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frejka, Tomas, 1980, Fertility trends and policies: Czechoslovakia in the 1970s, Population and Development Review, 6, 65–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gimenez, Martha, 1983, Feminism, pronatalism, and motherhood, in: Joyce Trebilcot, ed., Mothering. Essays in feminist theory (Rowman and Allanheld, Totowa, NJ) 287–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Girard, Alain and Louis Roussel, 1982, Ideal family size, fertility, and population policy in Western Europe, Population and Development Review 8, no. 2 (June) pp. 323–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Government of Canada, 1989, Integration of work and family responsibilities: Report on strategies, Submitted by Ministers Responsible for the status of women to the Annual Conference of First Ministers, Ottawa, Ontario, November 9–10.

  • Gustafsson, S. and T. Meisaari-Polsa, 1990, Why does fertility increase in Sweden? Typescript for PA Cambridge Economic Consultants, Dept. of Economics, University of Amsterdam and Statistics Sweden, Stockholm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heitlinger, Alena, 1979, Women and state socialism. Sex inequality in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia (Macmillan, London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Heitlinger, Alena, 1987, Reproduction, medicine and the socialist state (Macmillan, London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Höhn, Charlotte, 1988, Population policies in advanced societies: Pronatalist and migration strategies, European Journal of Population 3, 459–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Höhn, Charlotte, 1989, Policies affecting families and the population, in: Jacques Legare, T.R. Balakrishnan, Roderic P. Beaujot, eds., The family in crisis: A population crisis?, Proceedings of a Colloquium organized by the Federation of Canadian Demographers and sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada (The Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa) 385–394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoskyns, Catherine, 1988, ‘Give us equal pay and we'll open our own doors’ — A study of the Impact in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Ireland of the European Community's Policy on Women's Rights, in: Mary Buckley and Malcolm Anderson, eds., Women, equality and Europe (Macmillan, London). 33–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joshi, Heather, 1989, Changes in family structure and their linkages with the labour market, Paper presented at the 21st IUSSP International Population Conference, New Delhi, September.

  • Kamerman, Sheila, 1980, Managing work and family life: A comparative policy overview, in: Peter Moss and Nickie Fonda, eds., Work and the family (Temple Smith, London) 87–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klinger, Andras, 1987, Policy response and effects, in: Proceedings of the European Population Conference 1987: Issues and prospects, Jyvaskyle, Findland, June 11–16.

  • Law, Sylvia A., 1984, Rethinking sex and the constitution, University of Pennsylvania Review 132, 955–1040.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leeuw, Frans L., 1985, Population policy in industrialized countries: Evaluating policy theories to assess the demographic impact of population policy, Genus (Rome) 41, 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livi-Bacci, M., 1974, Population policy in Western Europe, Population Studies 28, 191–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lodh, Francoise, 1987, Explaining fertility decline in the West (with special reference to Canada): A critique of research results from the social science (The Vanier Institute of the Family, Ottawa).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucie, Patricia, 1988, Discrimination against males in the USA, in: Sheila McLean and Noreen Burrows, eds., The legal relevance of gender. Some aspects of sex-based discrimination (Macmillan, London) 216–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, Nora, 1990, Mommy wars. Who mothers best: Careerists or stay-at-homes?, Chateleine (March).

  • McIntosh, Alison, 1983, Population policy in Western Europe. Responses to low fertility in France, Sweden, and West Germany (M.E. Sharpe, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntosh, Alison, 1986, Recent pronatalist policies in Western Europe, Population and Development Review (Supplement) 12, 318–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacIntyre, Sally, 1976, Who wants babies: The social construction of ‘instincts’, in: Diana Leonard Barker and Sheila Allen, eds., Sexual divisions and society. Process and change (Tavistock Publications, London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Maas, Frank and Peter, McDonald, 1989, Income splitting. No answer to the needs of women, families or the economy, Family matters, Australian Institute of Family Studies Newsletter 24, 34–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niphuis-Nell, Mary, 1987, The emancipation of the sexes and a pronatalist population policy in the Netherlands, Paper presented at the Third Interdisciplinary Congress on Women, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, July 6–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD, 1985, The integration of women into the economy (OECD, Paris).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pahl, Jan, 1980, Patterns of money management within marriage, Journal of Social Policy 9, 313–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlík, Zdeněk, 1978, Baby boom in Czechoslovakia, Intercom 6 (6), 8–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Presser, Harriet B., 1986, Comment on Samuel H. Preston's ‘Changing values and falling birth rates’, Population and Development Review 12 (Supplement), 196–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romaniuc, Anatole, 1989, Fertility in Canada: A long view — A contribution to the debates on population, in: Jacques Legare, T.R. Balakrishan, Roderic P. Beaujot, eds., The family in crisis: A population crisis?, Proceedings of a Colloquium organized by the Federation of Canadian Demographers and sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada (The Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa) 251–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, Graeme, 1984, Changing patterns of divisions of labour for paid work and child care, in: XXth International CFR Seminar on Social Change and Family Policies, Melbourne, Australia, August 19–24, Free papers, Part 4 (The Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne) 1069–4096.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo, Nancy Felipe, 1979, Overview: Sex roles, fertility and the motherhood mandate, Psychology of Women Quarterly 4, 7–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sawer, Marian, 1989, The battle for the family: Family policy in Australian electoral politics in the 1980s, Urban Research Unit Paper No. 15 (Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra).

    Google Scholar 

  • Spakes, Patricia, 1989, Reshaping the goals of family policy: Sexual equality, not protection, Affilia. Journal of Women and Social Work 4, 7–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srb, Vladimír, 1981, Woman's fertility in Czechoslovakia during 1970–1979, Demosta 14, 44–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Status of Women Canada, 1989, Dimensions of equality. An update of the Federal Government work plan for women (Status of Women, Ottawa).

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, Gilbert, 1984, Family policy as latter-day children's policy, in: XXth International CFR Seminar on Social Change and Family Policies, Melbourne, Australia, August 19–24, Key papers, Part 1 (The Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne) 209–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, Richard, 1984, The French population debate, The Public Interest 76, 111–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Brekel, J.C., 1983, Population policy in the Council of Europe region: Policy responses to low fertility conditions, in: Proceedings of the European Population Conference 1982 (Council of Europe, Strasbourg) 389–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogel, Lise, 1987, The pregnancy discrimination act and the debate over special treatment, Paper presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, August 17–21.

  • Wulf, Deirdre, 1982, Low fertility in Europe: A report from the 1981 IUSSP meeting, International Family Planning Perspectives 8, 63–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, Christabel, 1989, Population policies in developed countries: How do Australia's policies compare?, Journal of the Australian Population Association 6, 38–56.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Sociology, Trent University, K9J 7B8, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

    Alena Heitlinger

Authors
  1. Alena Heitlinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Heitlinger, A. Pronatalism and women's equality policies. Eur J Population 7, 343–375 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01796873

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01796873

Keywords

Search

Navigation