FAMILY POLICY IN INTERNATIONALPERSPECTIVE
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
National Institute of Population and Social Security ResearchTokyo, 19 March 2019

Willem Adema, DPhil
Senior Economist, OECD Social Policy Division
Directorate Employment, Labour and Social Affairs

Presentation outline• Family policy objectives• The socio-economic context• Policy tools• Challenges and issues

2

Family policy aims to help parents balance their workand family commitments
The emphasis on underlying and interlinked
objectives varies across countries:• Enable people to have as many children as theywould like at the time of their choice• Help people to fulfil their labour market
aspirations and mobilise hitherto underused(often female) labour supply• Reduce family poverty and enhance childdevelopment• Enhance gender equality

3The changing face of society: birth rates have
dropped since 1970…
Total fertility rate, 1970 and 2016 or latest
2016

1970

Population replacement rate

Children per woman
87
6
5
4
3

2
10

Note: Average number of children born per woman over a lifetime given current age-specific fertility rates and assuming no female mortality during
reproductive years. Data for Chile refer to 2015
Source: OECD Family Database, http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm

4With increasing childlessness being an importantfactor
The proportion of women remaining childless (%) up to the age of 45 years

Sources:: Human Fertility database, OECD Family database and for Korea Sobotka (2019).

5

The Japanese population is the “oldest” acrossthe OECD and is expected to “age” further
Current and projected demographic old-age dependency ratios, 2015 and 2075
20152075

Ratio
9080706050403020100Note: The demographic old-age dependency ratio is defined as the number of individuals aged 65 and over per 100 people of working age defined as those aged between
20 and 64.
Source: OECD (2017), Pensions at a Glance 2017: OECD and G20 Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/pension_glance-2017-en.

6Young women have overtaken young men interms of educational attainment
Gender gap (male minus female) in the share of the population that have attained tertiary education, by age group,201725-34 years

55-64 years

Gender gap (percentagepoints)20151050-5-10-15-20-25-30

Note: Data for China refer to 2010, for India to 2011, for Saudi Arabia to 2014, and for Brazil, Chile and the Russian Federation to 2015
Source: OECD Education Database, http://www.oecd.org/education/database.htm

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…but women continue to bear the brunt ofunpaid work
Gender gap in minutes spent per day on paid and unpaid work, female minus male, 15-64 year-olds
Paid work

Unpaid work (↗)

Total work

Minutes per day
300
2001000-100-200-300

Note: Data for Australia are for 15+ years-olds, for Hungary 15-74 year olds, and for Sweden 25-64 year olds. Reference years vary across countries: Australia: 2006;
Austria: 2008-09; Belgium: 2005; Canada: 2010; China: 2008; Denmark: 2001; Estonia: 2009-10; Finland: 2009-10; France: 2009; Germany: 2001-02; Hungary: 1999-2000;
Italy: 2008-09; Ireland: 2005; Japan: 2011; Korea: 2009; Mexico: 2009; the Netherlands: 2005-06; New Zealand: 2009-10; Norway: 2010; Poland: 2003 04; Portugal: 1999;
Slovenia: 2000-01; South Africa: 2010; Spain: 2009-10; Sweden: 2010; Turkey: 2006; the United Kingdom: 2005; and the United States: 2014.
Source: OECD (2017), The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle, OECD Publishing, Paris, (https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264281318-en)

8…and in Japan family members are expected tohelp care for elderly relatives, more than in some
European countries…
Distribution of responses to the question "Thinking about elderly people who need some help in their everyday
lives, such as help with grocery shopping, cleaning the house, doing the laundry etc. Who do you think should
primarily provide this help?", all ages, 2012
Family members

Government agencies

Non-profit organizationsPrivate providers

1009080706050403020100Note: Excluding respondents answering "Can't choose" or "No answer".
Source: OECD calculations based on the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) 2012, http://w.issp.org/menu-top/home/9Gender gaps in labour force participation persist andare wider in Japan than in many European countries
Labour force participation rates (%) by gender, and gender gap in the labour force participation rate (percentagepoint), 15-64 year olds, 2017 or latest
WomenMen

10090807060

Gender gap

50403020100Note: The data refer to: 2016 for Saudi Arabia; 2015 for India; and 2010 for China. The data refer to the population aged 15 and over for India and 16-64 for Spain and the United States.
Source: OECD calculations based on national labour force surveys and, for China, census data; for the Netherlands, OECD Employment Database(http://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/onlineoecdemploymentdatabase.htm).

10Child poverty in Japan is slightly above the OECDaverage
Relative income poverty rate (%) for children (0-17 year-olds), 2016 or latest year%
302520151050Note: Data are based on equivalised household disposable income, i.e. income after taxes and transfers adjusted for household size. The poverty thresholdis set at 50% of median disposable income in each country. Data for Hungary, Mexico and New Zealand refer to 2014, and for Chile, Denmark, Germany,Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Switzerland and Turkey to 2015.
Source: OECD Income Distribution Database, http://www.oecd.org/social/income-distribution-database.htm

11• Policy tools

12Family-friendly policy tools
Time supports:• Leave for working parents caring for a young
child or dependent; entitlements to flexible and/orreduced working hours
Financial supports:• Cash transfers such as birth grants, income
support during leave, child allowances, etc. Fiscal
benefits such as child tax allowances and credits
In-kind support, services:• Earmarked support to parents, subsidies toproviders and/or direct provision of childcare andout-of-school-hours care services and a range offamily support services

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Public social spending in Japan has increased
steadily and is now above the OECD average
Trends in public social protection spending as a percent of GDP, 1960-2015

Source: OECD Social Expenditure Database (http://www.oecd.org/social/expenditure.htm)

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Fiscal space for public investment is limited
Gross general government debt as a % of GDP, 2017 or latest%250

200150100500Note: Data for Iceland refer to 2013 and for Israel and Mexico to 2016
Source: OECD National Accounts at a Glance Database, http://dotstat.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=NAAG15

Tax revenue in Asian OECD countries is below theOECD average
Total tax revenue as % of GDP, 1965 and 2017 or latest
20171965%50454035302520
151050Note: Data for Australia and Japan refer to 2016
Source: OECD Revenue Statistics, http://www.oecd.org/tax/tax-policy/revenue-statistics-2522770x.htm

16Spending on family benefits in Japan focuses on
financial support rather than childcare
Public expenditure on family benefits by type of expenditure, in per cent of GDP, 2015 and latest available

Notes: Public spending accounted for here concerns public support that is exclusively for families (e.g. child payments and allowances, parental leave benefits and childcare support), only.
Spending in other social policy areas such as health and housing support also assists families, but not exclusively, and is not included here. Data for cash and services in Poland refer to2014. For Greece, data on tax breaks towards families are not available. For the Netherlands, data on tax breaks for families are estimated using available information for 2011. ForSwitzerland, data on tax breaks for families are estimated by the national correspondent.
Source: OECD Social Expenditure Database (http://www.oecd.org/social/expenditure.htm) preliminary update

17Mothers’ leave entitlements are around the OECDaverage
Paid maternity leave and paid parental and home care leave available to mothers, in weeks, 2016

Notes: Information refers to entitlements to maternity leave, and any weeks of paid parental leave and paid home care leave available to mothers. Data refer to entitlements in place as ofApril 2016. Data reflect entitlements at the national or federal level only, and do not reflect regional variations or additional/alternative entitlements provided by states/provinces or local
governments in some countries (e.g. Québec in Canada, or California in the United States).
Source: OECD Family Database (http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm)

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Japan and Korea have the longest paid parental
leave periods reserved for fathers
Paid paternity leave and paid father-specific parental and home care leave, in weeks, 2016

Notes: Note: Information refers to entitlements to paternity leave, 'father quotas' or periods of parental leave that can be used only by the father and cannot be transferred to the mother,and any weeks of sharable leave that must be taken by the father in order for the family to qualify for 'bonus' weeks of parental leave. Data refer to entitlements in place as of April 2016.
Data reflect entitlements at the national or federal level only, and do not reflect regional variations or additional/alternative entitlements provided by states/provinces or local
governments in some countries (e.g. Québec in Canada, or California in the United States).
Source: OECD Family Database (http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm)

19Childcare participation in Japan is just below theOECD average
Percent of 0- to 2-year-olds enrolled in early childhood education and care (ECEC), and percent of 3- to 5year-olds enrolled in ECEC or primary education, 2016 or latest available

Notes: For 0- to 2-year-olds: Data generally include children enrolled in early childhood education services (ISCED 2011 level 0) and other registered ECEC services (ECEC services outside thescope of ISCED 0, because they are not in adherence with all ISCED-2011), but exact definitions differ across countries. Data for the United States refer to 2011, for Switzerland to 2014, andfor Japan to 2015. For 3- to 5-year-olds: Data include children enrolled in early childhood education and care (ISCED 2011 level 0) and primary education (ISCED 2011 level 1). See OECD
Family Database (http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm) Indicator PF3.2 for more detail.
Source: OECD Family Database (http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm) preliminary update

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But it takes time to change behaviour• In Sweden, the one-month father quota was introduced in 1995 andnow it is three months. In 2016, 45% of leave takers were fathers but
mothers took well over than twice as many leave days.
• In Germany, the proportion of children with a father using leaveincreased from 20.8% for children born in 2008 to 35.8% for thoseborn in 2015.
• In January 2016 in Korea the “daddy month” was extended to threemonths. The male share of parental leave users increased from 5.6%
in 2015 to 8.5% in 2016.
• In 2014, France introduced a father-specific parental leave benefit
for at least 6 months, but payment rates are low at about 16% of
average earnings. In December 2016, only 4.4% of recipients weremen.
• In Japan, around 3% of employed men whose spouse had given
birth between Oct 2014 and Oct 2015 had started or applied forparental leave by Oct 2016.

21In Nordic countries, policy aims to provide acontinuum of supports, whereas elsewhere supports
increase when children go to primary school
Public spending on family benefits and education by age, USD PPP per capita, 2015
USD

FinlandUnited States

18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0AgeNotes: OECD estimates based on the OECD Social Expenditure Database, http://www.oecd.org/social/expenditure.htm, and the AgeSpending Profile methodology outlined in OECD (2011) Doing Better for Families
Source: OECD Family Database, http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm

22• Some challenges and issues

23Issues and barriers for families to achieve their
desired work/family balance:• Changing attitudes toward mothers in work
• Issues around formal day-care, out-of-school

hours care, Juku, and the cost of education.
• Housing costs• The tax/benefit system and financial incentives
to work for both parents• How to attract and retain increasingly highly
qualified women in a dual labour market• Workplace cultures, long working hours andnetworking “after hours”
24Motherhood continues to affect labour market
participation
Labour market activity status of women and men, by five-yearage group, 2015 or latest year
100FRA

100

DEU

100

80

80

80

606060

40

40

40

20

20

20000KORNLDJPN
Employment full-time
Employment part-time
Unpaid workers
Unemployed
Active men

GBRUSA

100

100

100

100

80

80

80

80

60

60

60

60

40

40

40

40

20

20

20

200000Source: OECD (2018), OECD Employment Outlook 2018, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/empl_outlook-2018-en

Workplace cultures in European countries are often
more family-friendly
Percentage of employed with usual weekly working hours equal to or greater than 50 hours per week,by sex, 2017%

Men (↗)

Women

4035302520
151050Notes: Data refer to usual weekly working hours in the main job only, except for Japan and Korea (actual weekly working hours in all jobs). Data for Japanrefer to actual weekly working hours equal to or greater than 49 hours per week
Source: OECD Working Hours Database26

Women still earn considerably less than men
Gender gap in median earnings, full-time employees, 2016 or nearest available%
6050403020100Note: The gender wage gap is unadjusted, and is calculated as the difference between the median earnings of men and of women relative to the median earnings of men. Estimates of earnings used in thecalculations refer to gross earnings of full-time wage and salary workers. However, this definition differs from one country to another; see the OECD Employment Database and OECD (2017) for more detail.
Data for Argentina, Brazil, France, Indonesia and Turkey refer to 2014, and for India and South Africa to 2012.
Source: OECD Employment Database, http://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/onlineoecdemploymentdatabase.htm, and OECD (2017), The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle, OECD Publishing,Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264281318-en.

Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC)• A multi-stakeholder partnership to work together to achieve
the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particulartarget 8.5 which calls for equal pay for work of equal valueby 2030.
• Activities: Research and data collection, advocacy,knowledge sharing, capacity building, technical advisory
services, data analysis and monitoring.
• Analytical reports include: OECD (2018), Is the Last Mile the Longest;
 OECD (2018) Employment Outlook – Starting Close, Ending Far
 ILO (2018), Global Wage Report 2018/19 – What lies behind pay gaps

• EPIC website:
https://www.equalpayinternationalcoalition.org/

Fully closing the gender participation gap could
help counteract the looming labour force decline
Projected total size of the labour force (15-74 year olds) under different scenarios, Japan, thousands,
2012-2025
OECD Baseline
Gender gap reduced by 25% by 2025, and halved by 2040
Gender gap halved by 2025, and closed by 2040
66,00064,00062,00060,00058,00056,00054,00052,00050,000Note i) The “baseline” scenario: both male and female labour force participation rates are projected based on average entry and exit rates for each five-yearage group. ii) The “25-by-2025 (G20 target)” scenario: female participation rates are projected so that the 2012 gap between male and female participation
rates within each five-year age group falls by 25% by 2025, and 50% by 2040. iii) The “50-by-2025” scenario: female participation rates are projected so thatthe 2012 gap between male and female participation rates within each five-year age group falls by 50% by 2025, and 100% by 2040.
Source: OECD estimates based on the OECD Population and Demography Database and the OECD Employment Database

Countries with the highest fertility rates are among
those with the highest female employment rates
Female employment rates (15-64 year olds) and total fertility rates, 2015 or latest available
Total fertility rate
2.25

2FRA
USA

CHL

1.75
CHN

1.5
GRC

ITA

ESP

JPN

NZL
SWE
GBR
DNK
FIN
NOR
CAN
DEU

ISL

CHE

1.25
KOR
12030405060

708090100

Female employment rate, 15-64
Notes: OECD countries plus China. Israel, Mexico and Turkey are excluded as outliers. Data for Canada refer to 2013, for Chile to 2014, and for China to2010.
Sources: OECD Family Database, http://www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm, and OECD Employment Database,
http://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/onlineoecdemploymentdatabase.htm.

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The public policy approach• Work/family outcomes result from many different••

factors including: family and gender norms, labour
market instability and segmentation, housing
constraints, the organisation of education systems andworkplace practices policies
A change in one area will not have a large effect if notaccompanied by changes in the other areas affecting
work-life balance
There are no quick fixes and generating change requiresa stable public policy effort so that parents can rely on it–––

Sustain investment in childcare, as part of a continuum of
supports for working parents
Equal financial incentives to work for both parents
Address issues around the cost of education and housing, withpreliminary evidence suggesting that housing cost exert
downward pressure on fertility rates.

31Changing workplace cultures
There is no one-size fits all and change will take time
to materialise• Limit prevalence of long working hours• Performance related pay• Make workplace cultures conducive to use ofmaternity and parental leave• Stimulate father’s leave, e.g. increase payment
rates for short periods – a few months, not a year
• Integrate “mother returners” in regular
employment and improve job quality opportunities• Leadership is important: encourage change fromthe top32

Further information
OECD (2017) The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle:oe.cd/gender2017
OECD (2017) Dare to Share: Germany's Experience Promoting Equal
Partnership in Families: oe.cd/dts
OECD (2018) Is the Last Mile the Longest? Economic Gains from Gender
Equality in Nordic Countries: doi.org/10.1787/9789264300040-en

OECD (2019) Society at a Glance: Asia/Pacific 2019:https://doi.org/10.1787/soc_aag-2019-en
OECD Family Database:www.oecd.org/els/family/database.htm@OECD_Social33