Social Policy in the Field of Parenting and Childlessness: a Comparative Analysis of Russia and France

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of family policy in Russia and France with a special focus on the  incentives provided for first child births and the prevention of childlessness in parents not suffering from medical issues. It is based on a review of the current literature on financial incentives toward fertility and the implementation of a "family-friendly policy''. The author comes to conclusion that the policy of one-time financial incentives that is widely practiced in Russia, does not raise fertility in real terms, causing instead only a shift in calendar births without reducing the proportion of childless people in the population. On the contrary, long-term assistance policy for families with children, which consists of social allowance and taxes cuts, is far more important in improving the work-life balance of mothers. This has been realized in France, allowing fertility to remain at a rather high level. Our comparative analysis outlines the differences in approaches towards family policy issues in both countries. The interest of such a comparison lies, on the one hand, in the differences in welfare systems in these countries and, on the other hand, in the resemblance of the ideology in use in the social sector, which relies mainly on the family. Over the past few decades, the proportion of childless people has kept growing in Russia while it has been diminishing in France. It seems that the most effective means of stimulating the reduction of childlessness would be a complex social policy that minimizes the negative consequences of maternity such as a fall in income and radical changes in one’s lifestyle. Such a policy should be sufficiently flexible to leave the possibility for young mothers to choose when they should return to professional life, how to organize their working schedule and what kind of childcare facility is most suitable for them. This kind of family policy could remove a number of obstacles in the way of single women who want to become mothers. It could also help those women who perceive their marriage as unstable without overloading the state welfare system in the process. This policy is intented to make parenting more "affordable" and gradually change negative perceptions of parenting.