Family policy in the situation of low fertility - situation of Poland and the experience of other countries

Aneta Ptak-Chmielewska, Warsaw School of Economics
Ewa Fratczak, Warsaw School of Economics

Policies influencing fertility comprise actions shaping conditions, environment and the context within the framework of which particular persons make procreative decisions. They regulate conditions of employment, conditions entitling to particular allowances. They also determine the level and quality of available educational and healthcare services, and define the rights and responsibilities of parents. They are policies that determine conditions and facilitate particular decisions. They play a particularly significant role in the situation of low TFR and fertility. Moreover, most policies influencing fertility are expensive, whereas, on the other hand, the proofs of their effectiveness are often inconsistent and they are too ambiguous in order to provide a real support for decision-makers. The Structure of the paper consists of three parts: Part I. comprises the review of policies and conceptions of policies in the situation of low fertility. Part II. presents the experience of Poland within the range of the assessment of „the procreation friendly policy” on the basis of the sample survey „Diagnosis of late fertility” carried out in 2007 in the environment of large cities [1]. The country’s contemporary policy within the sphere of procreation and family has been assessed in the survey. The respondents also expressed their views concerning the best in their opinion forms of family supporting, which would facilitate larger number of children in a family. Part III. presents the experience of other countries within the range of low fertility policy and attempts to relate them to the situation of Poland. [1] The survey „LATE FERTILITY DIAGNOSIS. COHORT PROSPECTIVE SURVEY ON DEMOGRAPHIC, SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND HEALTH DETEREMINANTS” (quantitative -2007, qualitative 2008), were carried out within the framework of the commissioned research project No. PBZ-MEiN-8/2/2006 „Epidemiology of procreative risks in Poland – multi-centre, prospective cohort” carried out by the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Lodz.