but the relationship between female labourforce participation and fertility can also be taken as a symptom of the structure of relations on the supply side but there is more diversity on the supply side as evidenced by different public commitments to care and the relationship between female labourforce participation and fertility see box in other words the persistence of women s traditional responsibilities for care in the family combined with few alternatives to providing such care means that the promise of less gender inequality in the labour market is limited by tradeoffs with social reproduction france s high fertility rates are a testament to family policies that draw the provision of care out of the family and into the public sphere making for a high road supply side salles et al both have less supportive family policies than germany but higher fertility and comparable work participation among women at issue here is whether and how social reproduction moves out of the family balbo et al