Project description
Understanding which family policies work: the case of a new pregnancy benefit
There isn’t a single EU Member State that is not facing the demographic impacts of population ageing and reduced fertility. Several regions experience depopulation, which threatens sustainability and creates financial, social and other challenges. Yet, present European family policies appear only partially effective. The EU-funded PREGNANCYBENEFIT project proposes interdisciplinary research involving economics, demography, and public policy. The aim is to understand whether a brand new type of family policy - a pregnancy benefit - could be an effective policy tool in changing fertility behavior in Europe. Potential impacts on fertility and abortions (an aspect that is rarely studied) will be assessed using administrative microdata on the entire population and micro-econometric models. The goal is to find family policies that achieve long-term financial sustainability and good cost–outcome ratios.
Objective
The proposed action contributes to tackling of a pressing challenge faced by the EU, which is finding new birth policies that would be effective in countering demographic decline. It does so by evaluating the impact of a new type of family policy (pregnancy benefit) on fertility behaviour (births and abortions) and on child health at birth. This is a unique research opportunity as pregnancy benefits are very rare. The evaluation will be conducted using high-quality, population-wide, administrative microdata and state-of-the-art microeconometric models.
The project is inherently interdisciplinary, as it connects economics with demography, public policy, sociology, and women’s reproductive rights. The action includes intersectoral transfer of knowledge. First, the secondment institution conducts policy-relevant research tailored for the needs of the government and other public bodies. Second, the non-academic placement will occur in an NGO promoting gender equality and women's rights.
The novelty of this research is threefold. First, it evaluates the impact of a novel prenatal cash transfer on fertility (as opposed to traditional postnatal policies). Second, it contributes to understanding of abortion-seeking behaviour (which is rarely done). Third, it evaluates the impact of an earmarked, non-means-tested transfer, on child health at birth (which has not been done previously).
The proposed policy evaluation is important in the context of:
[1] tackling demographic decline in the EU – a threat to long-term sustainability of public finances;
[2] supporting cost-effective policy-making – evaluating effectiveness of costly family policies and choosing the best ones is useful for the tax-payer;
[3] fostering gender equality – the evaluated anti-abortion policy is not restricting women’s reproductive rights.
This project will strengthen the ERA, as it will be executed in a low R&I performing country. Currently, no economists in Slovak academia specialize in family policies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
814 99 BRATISLAVA 1
Slovakia
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.