title: Family policy in Germany: appraisal and assessment.
abstract: The German government spends about euro 185 billion on measures to support families. This amount is above European Union average, but still, families have become smaller and the number of childless couples has increased. This article outlines some of the 145 German policy measures to support families and their purpose. An assessment that takes into account economic theory and empirical studies shows that an increase of monetary incentives could influence the decision to bear a child only moderately. This implies that policy measures alone cannot be held responsible for the entire difference in fertility rates between countries. Cited studies based on surveys among the German and French populations reveal how different attitudes of the population may also play their role in determining the fertility rate of a country.
authors.affiliation: University of Bamberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Ivonne
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Honekamp
mesh_terms: D005191:Family Characteristics; D016656:Family Planning Policy / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans