Family policies and fertility in Norway

Trude Lappegård, Statistics Norway

We address the relationship between family policies and fertility in Norway, including three somewhat different policies; parental leave, formal childcare and childcare cash benefit. Our data are administrative register data covering the period 1995-2004. Both policies designed to improve reconciliation of work an family, and policies designed to improve childcare choices for parents are indeed popular. The analysis shows that policies that promote father involvement in childcare and gender equality are positively associated with timing of second births, while policies giving more general family support are positively associated with timing of third births.