Does the Welfare State Destroy the Family? Evidence from OECD Member Countries

Martin Halla, Mario Lackner, Johann Scharler

Publikation: Wissenschaftliche FachzeitschriftOriginalbeitrag in FachzeitschriftBegutachtung

Abstract

We study the effect of the size of the welfare state on demographic trends in OECD member countries. Exploiting exogenous variation in public social spending, due to varying degrees of political fractionalization (i.e., the number of relevant parties involved in the legislative process), we show that an expansion in the welfare state increases fertility, marriage, and divorce rates with a quantitatively stronger effect on the marriage rate. We conclude that the welfare state supports family formation in the aggregate. Further, we find that the welfare state decouples marriage and fertility, and therefore alters the organization of the average family.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)292-323
FachzeitschriftScandinavian Journal of Economics
Jahrgang118
Ausgabenummer2
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 2016
Extern publiziertJa

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