As countries around the world grapple with falling fertility rates, Economist Impact gathered infertility and policy experts to analyze whether EU policy proposals improved fertility and childbearing. The findings are surprising.
IFFS Scientific Director Bart Fauser was one of the report’s co-authors. He says the Fertility Policy and Practice Toolkit – Europe report provides a roadmap for future policy directions. The timing could not be better as More Joy campaign ambassadors meet with policymakers around the globe.
We interviewed Dr. Fauser about the new guide, and how it can help to drive policy change on fertility.
Q. What is the policy guide and why did you create it?
Bart Fauser: The idea was to give policymakers a tool to understand which measures designed to improve fertility rates will be most effective and how to measure those effects.
It was developed by Economist Impact, a research organization that examines issues from a business perspective. People don’t realize that an aging population and falling fertility rate has widespread economic and social impacts. So this project pulled together experts to ask questions and look at the data so that policymakers can better understand what works and what doesn’t.
Q. When you looked at the effectiveness of fertility care policies, what did you find?
BF: For me, the most prominent conclusion is that there is very little information on impact of measures taken on fertility rates, very few studies. We know when certain policies were introduced and the different measures in different countries, but what we found is those measures tend to be short term and there is no long-term follow up or integrated approach. So, our first recommendation for governments and policymakers is to prioritize long-term policymaking and thinking. We know that’s not typical and not easy.
The bottom line is there are no quick fixes to address the problem of infertility.
Q. What are the most effective fertility care policies based on your analysis?
BF: Our toolkit provides a guide for people on what measures you can take to make it easier for people to have children and how to look at the effects of those measures. They include childcare policies, workplace policies, financial policies, and ART policies. If you want to improve fertility rates, you need to start in these areas. Then we looked at how you can measure the impact of these policies, and the measures we considered were: 1. impact on fertility; 2. economic impact and return on investment; what does society gain; and 3. Individual and societal well-being.
Q. How do you recommend that IFFS members use this policy guide?
BF: This guide can help people look at the measures, if any, people have in their own country to support family building. In Nordic countries, for example, they started by extending maternity leave and adding paternity leave. What is your country doing to reimburse ART? It’s about money, but it’s very important to people who would like to have children.
There are huge discrepancies from country to country. We hope this guide provides instruments to help our colleagues and peers discuss this issue with policymakers, make it more concrete, and assess, where they are.
It’s basically an objective roadmap, and people can build their own by assessing and comparing their country to other countries and look at the short- and long-term impacts.
Q. Where do the More Joy campaign recommendations fall in your assessment?
BF: Our More Joy recommendations are our best estimate of what would work. There is little data behind it, so consensus among experts of what might be the best way forward is the direction we’ve taken.
One country that has offered a lot for families is Hungary, but when you look in the scientific literature you can’t find data. [Hungarian President] Orban says it has had a significant effect, but we don’t really know.
In the Nordic countries it looks like their efforts have helped a little bit, but only temporarily and then you see a small increase in fertility.
In the Netherlands, for instance, many women are concerned having a family will negatively impact their career so you need to involve employers, not only on career planning but family planning and reassure women that if they are absent for pregnancy and maternity leave that it won’t negatively impact their career. In other countries, different reasons may apply such as concern about the environment, geopolitics or finance.
Given fertility trends around the globe, there is increased concern about the effects. We need to stop avoiding the topic and start to provide solutions. I hope this policy guide will help to make a difference.
https://impact.economist.com/perspectives/health/fertility-policy-and-practice-toolkit-europe