Comparative Study on the Effects of Family Policy in French-Speaking Countries

This contract relates to the comparative analysis of fertility and its determinants, and in particular that of family policy, in three European countries (Belgium, France and Luxembourg). This analysis specifically places its emphasis on the problems of reconciling family and professional life. It is a matter of reviewing studies made until now in order to endeavour to explain fertility and its evolution over the end of the 20th century. [...] Following the logic developed here, the plan adopted in the report will be arranged in two parts: we will investigate the reasons why fertility fell, and then recovered fairly recently in some countries. We will first of all seek to know whether the measures contributing to an assumption of the financial cost of a child have an effective influence on fertility. Then we will attempt, in the second part, to see whether fertility can be explained, directly or indirectly, by measures, which take into consideration the fact that a child costs time. This account of the literature concerning the case in Belgium, France and Luxembourg will be preceded by a section describing the demographic and economic situation in each of the three countries.