Economic crisis, families, and family policy in the Baltic states, 2009–2014

ABSTRACT

The three Baltic countries experienced the most rapid population decline throughout the 1990s and 2000s in Europe. The resulting critical demographic situation motivated the governments of the Baltic states to pay more political attention to family policy issues than in the rest of Europe. The aim of the paper is to analyze the development of family policy in Baltic countries and factors that influenced it during the 2009 economic crisis. Also, the outcomes in terms of child poverty and fertility are highlighted. Results show that the economic resources and fertility level had an essential impact on family policy in the Baltic states. Economic support to families, in turn, directly alleviate the poverty level of families and indirectly influence fertility.

KEYWORDS:

• Baltic countries
• family policy
• fertility
• wealth
• poverty
• policy
• politics
• economic recession

Acknowledgement

I am thankful to Jolanta Aidukaite for her valuable comments about the Lithuanian family policy.

Disclosure statement

The author does not have any financial interest or benefits arising from the direct applications of her research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mare Ainsaar

Mare Ainsaar is a senior researcher at the Institute of Social Studies at the University of Tartu. She has received her PhD in Social Sciences at the University of Turku, and later worked at different universities. She is a national coordinator of the European Social Survey in Estonia since 2003. Her main research interests are related to demographic behavior, family policy, and social policy.