著者

原 俊彦

出版者

北海道東海大学

雑誌

北海道東海大学紀要. 人文社会科学系 (ISSN:09162089)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.13, pp.149-175, 2000

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This paper focuses on the fertility development and family policy in the Federal Republic of Germany, from 1910 to 1998. This is a part of the research project, a comparative study of low Fertility and Family Policy in Developed Countries (the research grant for Policy Sciences Promotion Project by the Japanese Ministry for Health and Welfare No.10100101). The purpose of this three-year research project is to clarify the trends and determinants of fertility, and the policy responses to low fertility and their effects in developed societies, and to explore the policy implications for Japan. The study will focus on a couple of developed countries each year and compare these countries' studies at the end of the third year to synthesize the results to provide scientific basis for policy proposals. Reviewing the research reports of BIB (Bundesinstitut fur Bevolkerungsforschung) and using the statistical data of Council of Europe(CD-ROM : 1999), we analyzed 1) Trends and determinants of attitudes and behaviors regarding fertility and the family, 2) Family policy measures to cope with changes in fertility and the family and their effects, 3) Policy implications derived from Germany for Japan The important findings are : 1. In Germany, the social norm for making small families established before Word War II shaped the basic trend of the fertility decline after the postwar baby boom and caused the continuous postponement of marriage and the first child bearing. The relatively low extra-marital births ratio and the only slowly increasing cohabitation in former West Germany show the unchanged conservative attitudes for marriage and child bearing. 2. The historical review of the population policies in Nazi regime and in former East Germany under the socialist government shows that even the strong pro-natalistic policies can have only temporal and limited effect on fertility development. And they could cause a rather strong reaction if they are terminated. The economic support for child bearing in former West Germany and in present Germany show no visible effects on fertility trends either.