The Research Programme

Over the past three decades most EU countries have experienced a sharp increase in the extent of women’s participation in paid employment, combined with a significant reduction in fertility rates. Some member states have adopted or are considering fiscal policies in attempts to modify these trends. Others seek to modify the relevant institutional mechanisms which can bring about a more desirable balance between work and family life. Yet the mechanisms which link these trends to the institutional frameworks existing in member states remain poorly understood.

FENICs research will elaborate upon these mechanisms, seeking to inform the development of public policy in this area. Five research teams are engaged upon a variety of research projects, all of which share the same common goal – to facilitate our understanding of the complex causal processes underlying the links between female employment and family formation and the extent to which the institutional contexts (the role of tax and benefit systems; child care networks; educational systems; employer policies; legal regulations) interact with them.

Further details of the research teams and the research projects they are engaged upon are given on related pages.