Chair
Pau Baizán (Spain)

Membership
Minja Kim Choe (USA)
Hans-Peter Kohler (USA)
Gerda Neyer (Austria)
Naohiro Ogawa (Japan)
Baochang Gu (China)

Council Liaison
Yasuhiko Saito saito

IUSSP Secretariat Contact Person
Paul Monet

Terms of Reference

Low fertility is becoming a global demographic phenomenon, involving societies with very different socio economic and cultural contexts. Given its pervasive and diverse effects in society and its institutions, low fertility is increasingly attracting the attention of scientists in several disciplines as well as policy makers. Several research contributions have pointed to the role of the state in shaping the social and economic context in which individuals and families make fertility decisions, by implementing policies in domains such as reproductive health, the labour market, care arrangements or gender relations.
The purpose of this panel is to gain a greater understanding of the links between policies and low fertility, defined as a fertility rate below two children per women. On the one hand, it will encourage research that considers the effects of social and economic institutions on fertility-related behaviour, based on analyses that either focus on specific contexts or use a comparative approach; on the other hand, the panel will consider the responses of governments to reduced fertility levels. Methodological issues will also be addressed, since many questions remain unanswered concerning the empirical approaches of research and the measurement of the impact of policies that may affect the timing and the level of fertility.