Title: Can government regulate fertility? An assessment of pronatalist policy in Eastern Europe.

POPLINE Document Number: 050262

Author(s):

Legge JS Jr
Alford JR

Source citation:

WESTERN POLITICAL QUARTERLY, 1986 Dec;39(4):709-28.

Abstract:

The authoritarian governments in Eastern Europe have played an active role in the fertility regulation of their citizenry. This article examines government attempts to encourage population growth in Eastern Europe, with particular attention given to Romania, Hungary, and the German Democratic Republic. Governments attempting to influence reproductive behavior can utilize 3 types of policies--the moral-propagandistic, the economic, and the legal-administrative. Romania has focused on the latter, issuing a decree in 1966 banning abortion for women under age 45 with less than 4 children. Hungary has pursued a policy with some legal-administrative aspects, but it has included more positive economic incentives for families to have children. Allowances were raised for a second child and monthly maternity payments were increased through the third offspring. Hungary also expanded its network of family planning centers and offered more courses on sex education and family life. The German Democratic Republic has emphatically followed an economic incentive approach in its pronatalist policy. In 1976, the government adopted regulations that raised paid maternity leave to 26 weeks, provided cash allowances during the time of unpaid leave for 2nd and 3rd births, gave working mothers a fully paid work week of 40 hours, raised the value of birth grants, and provided newly married couples with loans to buy and furnish homes. The population growth policy followed by Romania is likely to fail--abortion is deeply engrained in Romanian culture. Hungary's mixed administrative-economic approach should be effective. But the purely economic incentives of the German Democratic Republic should work permanently.

Keywords:

Romania
Hungary
German Democratic Republic
Europe, Eastern
Pronatalist Policy
Fertility Incentives
Abortion
Abortion Law
Population Law
Population Control
Family Policy
Maternity Benefits
Europe, Southeastern
Europe
Developing Countries
Europe, Central
Developed Countries
Population Policy
Social Policy
Policy
Fertility Control, Postconception
Family Planning
Legislation
Microeconomic Factors
Economic Factors