Policy Papers

Natalya Shcherbina| 29.10.2019

Demography in the trap of social policy: which measures can (can’t) help to increase fertility in Belarus

Since the mid 2000s the fertility rate in Belarus was increasing and staying higher than optimistic forecasts of the UN. This situation gave reasons to the policy makers to report about efficiency of the demographic policies including childcare benefits and family capital. However since 2017 the trend has turned around without any negative shocks from the economy or demographic and social policy. This discussion paper analyzes what happens to the Belarusian fertility, why this happens and how social policy affects fertility.

This paper is a part of the research about attitudes of Belarusians towards the system of social protection. The research is carried out by the IPM Research Center in cooperation with BEROC Economic Research Center.

The Policy Paper is available only in Russian.