Children and Family Policies across the OECD

Children and Family Policies across the OECD Eurochild’s Annual Conference Cardiff, 1 December 2011María del Carmen HuertaSocial Policy Division, OECD.www.oecd.org/els/social/family/www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter

Outline1. Family policy objectives and families at risk2. Financial support for families with children3. Childcare policies4. Parental employment5. Parenting practices6. Summary

1. Family policy objectives and families at risk

Family Policy is key for improving child outcomeso Family policy goals may complement each other:  Promoting parental employment  Reducing family poverty  Enhancing child development  Enabling people to have children at preferred time  Enhancing gender equity

Policy is shaped by work, family and child outcomes… Total fertility Employment Gender pay Child Childcare PISA reading Public rate to population gap1 poverty2 enrolment scores3 spending on ratio (aged <6) family benefits4,5 Women 15-64, mid-late 2009* 2008*** 2008***** 2009 % GDP, 2007 2009** 2000s****OECD Average 1.74 (+/- 0.183) 59.6 (+/- 5.52) 16 (+/- 4.1) 12.7 (+/- 3.06) 54.7 (+/- 7.38) 494 (+/- 11.4) 2.2 (+/- 0.46)(intervals)Austria 1.39 66.4 21 6.2 44.3 - 3.1Belgium 1.83 56.0 10 10.0 73.6 506 3.1Denmark 1.84 73.1 12 3.7 78.6 495 3.7Finland 1.86 67.9 21 4.2 51.0 536 2.7France 1.99 60.0 12 8.0 70.8 496 3.7Germany 1.36 65.2 25 8.3 60.2 497 2.8Greece 1.53 48.9 10 13.2 30.2 483 1.3Hungary 1.33 49.9 2 7.2 48.0 494 3.3Italy 1.41 46.4 1 15.3 63.6 486 1.4Netherlands 1.79 70.6 17 9.6 61.3 508 2.9Poland 1.40 52.8 14 21.5 26.0 500 1.5Slovak Republic 1.41 52.8 - 10.9 37.3 477 2.2Spain 1.40 53.5 12 17.3 66.9 481 1.6Sweden 1.94 70.2 15 7.0 68.4 497 3.1United Kingdom 1.94 65.6 21 10.1 64.4 494 3.6 Around the OECD average Above the OECD average Below the OECD average (or no data) The OECD average is calculated as the unweighted average for OECD countries for which data is available. Countries are categorised in “above” or “below” groups if they are at least half a standard deviation above or below the OECD average. Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

In general, child poverty has showed no improvements Proportion of children <18 years old living in poor households Note: Poverty thresholds are set at 50% of the equivalised median household income of the entire population. Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

Children in jobless households are more likely to be poor Poverty rates among households with children by employment status, 2005/08 Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

Children in sole-parent families are more likely to be poor Poverty rates among households with children by family status, 2005/08 All households with children Single parents with children Couple families with children 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

Risks of poverty are acute in young families Equivalised net household income in employed households as a ratio of the total poverty threshold 2008 Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

2. Financial Support for Families with Children

The policy mix varies across countries...Public spending on family benefits in cash, services and tax measures, in % of GDP, 2007 Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

No country with above average spending has above average poverty rates Total social spending on children aged 0-17 and child poverty rates

Public spending is concentrated on compulsory schooling Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

3. Childcare services

Public investment in childcare can lead to high participation … Childcare enrolment, children aged < 6 Public expenditure on childcare, % GDP Denmark Belgium France Sweden Spain UK Italy Portugal Luxembourg Netherlands Germany Finland Hungary OECD average = Austria OECD average = 58.2% Czech Republic 0.63% Ireland Slovak Republic 80 60 40 20 0 0,0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

… facilitates maternal employment and reduces poverty Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

Pre-primary education translates into better oucomes • Growing evidence that early childhood programmes improve children’s well-being, help learning outcomes more equitable, improve social mobility. • Results from PISA suggest attending pre-primary education is strongly associated with reading performance at age 15, even after accounting for socio-economic background. • Immigrant students and those from disadvantaged families are more likely to benefit from high quality early education and care.

Use of formal childcare is lower among children in low-income families Proportion of children aged < 3 enrolled in formal childcare services, 2008 Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

4. Promoting parental employment

Today most mothers are in paid work Maternal employment rates, women with a child under 15, 2008 Source: OECD Family Database (www.oecd.org/els/social/family/database), indicator LMF1.2

A barrier to maternal employment is childcare costs Families where both parents earn 100% of the average worker earnings Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

A challenge to higher female employment is unpaid work Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

Leave entitlements for fathers exist in half the OECD Weeks of leave entitlements for fathers, 2008 Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

5. Parenting practices

Parenting practices are key for child outcomes Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families, OECD, Paris. (www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter)

Parent’s educational support and student performance Parental support at beginning of primary Parental support at age 15 school Score point difference between students whose parents often Score point difference between students whose parents often (weekly or daily) "read books" with the student and those who (weekly or daily) "discuss books, films or televisions do not. programmes" and those who do not Before accounting for socio-economic background After accounting for socio economic background Note: Values that are statistically significant are marked in a darker tone. Source: OECD PISA 2009 database, Tables II.5.3 and II.5.4.

6. Summary

Summaryo Use all policy tools without “gaps”.o Start to invest early in families with children and sustain it throughout childhood and over time.o Ensure work pays for both parents and help parents provide for their own children through a range of work/family supports.o Promoting parenting activities is important for child development.o Promote more evidence-based policy making.o Policy options in a fiscally constrained world: “social spending has to be smart” .o

More information• Maria.HUERTA@oecd.org• OECD Family Database www.oecd.org/social/family/database• OECD Child Well-being Module www.oecd.org/social/family/database/CWBM• OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter• OECD (2009), Doing Better for Children www.oecd.org/els/social/childwellbeing

Children and Family Policies across the OECD

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Children and Family Policies across the OECD Presentation Transcript