Family policies and low fertility: how does the social network influence the impact of policies

Thomas Fent, Vienna Institute of Demography
Belinda Aparicio Diaz, Vienna Institute of Demography
Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz, Vienna University of Technology

The aim of this paper is to compare the impact of fixed versus income dependent family allowances in the context of different assumptions regarding the social structure of a society. We investigate societies that differ in the structure of the underlying social networks. We use an agent based simulation model to analyse the impact of family policies on cohort fertility, intended fertility, and the gap between intended and realised fertility. The crucial features of our simulation model are the agents' heterogeneity with respect to age, income, parity, and intended fertility, the social network and its influence mechanism. Our results indicate that both fixed and income dependent child support have a positive and significant impact on fertility.