Family Policies and Fertility in Sweden

In a continent where most countries exhibit low or “lowest-low” fertility, the experience of Sweden and its Nordic neighbors has become of interest to social scientists and policy makers concerned with the causes and consequences of low fertility. Nordic fertility can be labeled as “highest-low”: the fertility of Sweden and its neighbors is below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman but still high as compared to many other developed countries. In the present overview, I provide insights into recent childbearing developments in Sweden and discuss the role of family policies in shaping childbearing behavior. I provide evidence that institutional factors appear to be far more decisive than cultural ones in influencing childbearing behavior, and demonstrate some specific impacts of family policies on childbearing dynamics. 1 This paper is based on a contribution to the “Consultancy Study on Population Related Matters – A Study on Policies and Practices in Selected Countries that Encourage Childbirth” for the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. A previous version is available in the Stockholm Research Reports in Demography of Stockholm University (SRRD 2007-01). 2 Stockholm University, Department of Sociology, Demography Unit, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden www.suda.su.se; Phone: +46 8 16 3261; E-mail: [email protected]