Transcript Does the Family Have a Place in Habitat?

The Family:
Human Capital Implications and
Real Sustainable Economic Growth
Dr. Maria Sophia Aguirre
Department of Business and Economics
The Catholic University of America
10th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family
High Level Seminar on the Family
New York City
December 4, 2003
Is the Family Relevant for Economic Growth?
 How one answer this question depends greatly on whether
or not one sees the family and, with it, population as a
problem.
 Some would argue that population and the family are a
problem:
 - The earth is limited, the more we are, the poorer we will be.
 The family is a hostile place for women and children. Therefore it
has to be monitored and regulated by international laws and
institutions.
 Others disagree, arguing that the family is fundamental for
economic growth. Numbers in themselves do not equal
poverty; rather, poorly structured families and societies as
well as economies foster poverty.
 They address the organic reality of the family unit, which is
fundamental for human capital and the well functioning of the
economy.
I Would Like to Argue
 The focus on family and population is not necessarily
incorrect, but both the population control policies used and
the approach of UN documents to the family in the past twenty
some years are mistaken.
 This is so because:
 Healthy families are essential for the development of
human and social capital, and the shape that this legislation
has taken is threatening this fundamental unit of society.
Thus it renders real economic growth unsustainable.
 Resources are use inefficiently as they are directed towards
initiatives that weaken healthy families and, with it,
fundamental elements of the economy. This, in turn,
hampers real economic growth.
On this point, I have good company
Nobel Laureate, 1992
 “No discussion of human capital can omit the influence of
families on the knowledge, skills, values, and habits of their
children and therefore on their present and future
productivity.” Becker (1991)
Nobel Laureate, 1998
“The human development approach must tale full note of the
robust role of the human capital, while at the same time
retaining clarity about what the ends and means respectively
are. What needs to be avoided is to see human beings as
merely means of production and material prosperity.” Sen
(1994)
The Population Control Argument
 First, rapid growth in population means the spread of poverty and
aggravates conditions such as as poor health, malnutrition, illiteracy,
and unemployment. (Bucharest, 1974)
 Second, population threatens government stability in developing
countries, and encourages the confrontation between developed and
developing countries.
 Third, it pushes future generations to scarcity, and an unsustainable
environment carrying capacity. (Rio, 1992)
 Fourth, it sees population growth to be symptomatic of the larger
problem of women's oppression—the more children a woman has, the
less opportunity she has for her own self-actualization and
development. (Cairo, 1994 and Beijing, 1995)
Expenditure on Grant-Financed Development
Activities of the United Nations System by Sector
(Percentage of Total)
12
Percentage of Total
10
8
6
4
2
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998- 2000- 20021999 2001 2003
Year
Population
Energy
Indus try
Trans port
Communications
Trade and Development
Science and Technology
Employment
Source: Compiled from Comprehensive Statistical Data on Operational Activities for Development, years 1990-1997.
Several elements of the economy degenerate if
they are not ordered towards the family
 What is the purpose of economics if not to meet the
family members’ need to obtain and to consume?

These needs generate economic activity and affect
productivity
 What is the motivation to work without a family?
 Where but in the family is the need to distribute the
goods produced in the economy mainly felt?
 What moderation would there be in consumption and
spending if there were no family?
 What is the economic agent’s motivation to save or
invest beyond retirement without the family?
 What is the role of the government if not to meet, at
least in a subsidiary manner, the needs of the
Socioeconomic Effects
 From an economic point of view, the family is
very important:
– The breakdown of the family is a symptom of a sick and
weak society.
– Children develop in the best way within families that
are functional, i.e., with their biological parents in a
stable marriage.
– The academic performance of a child is very closely
related to the structure of the family in which he or she
lives and this is important for the quality of the human
and social capital.
– Every man and woman belongs to a family and clearly,
from a point of view of economic development, its
stability is necessary for sustainable development.
Divorce
 There is a 43% likelihood of a new marriage
ending in divorce
 Of the 69% of children born to married parents it
is estimated that 58% will see their parents divorce
by the time they are 18 years old
 There is considerable scientific evidence of the
psychological damage done by voluntary break-up
of the family
U.S. Census Bureau,National Center for Health Statistics, 1998-2000
Cohabitation
 45-85% of people between 20-25 years are cohabiting
in Northern European countries. In the US this
number is 14%.
 We know:
– Child abuse is six times higher than in families with two
parents
– Cohabitation is more unstable than marriage.
– Marriages after cohabitation are less stable than marriages
without cohabitation previous to marriage.
– The rate of intimate-offender attacks on women separated
from their husbands is about 25 times higher than that of
married women.
• Popenoe and Whitehead (1997, 2000), Wu(1998), Hoen(1997), U.S. Department of
Justice (March, 1998)
Figure 2
Percentage of Families that are in Poverty by Family Structure and
Ethnicity
70
60
54
47.4
50
40
29.2
27.1
30
20
10
14.1
7.7
4.4
6.1
0
Married Single
White
Married Single Married Single
Asian and Pacific
Black
Married Single
Hispanic
Source: Poverty in the U.S.: 2002, US Census Bureau, September 2003, Table A-1.
Figure 3
Percentage of Women who are in Poverty by Family S tructure and
Ethnicity, 2000
60
52
45
50
37
40
30
24
20
10
8
5
0
Married
White
Single
Married
Black
Single
Married
Single
Hispanic
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty, A Statistical Profile, March 2002.
Figure 4
Divorce vs Fe male Labor
Force Participation
5
Australia
Netherlands
Germany
Divorce
4
3
2
1
United States
France
Italy
Japan
0
0
20
Sweden
UK
40
60
Female Labor Force Participation
Source: International Labor Organization.
80
Concerning Children
 Decline in academic performance
 Lack of parental support and involvement, along with the
breakdown of the family have been found to be important
factors
 Children from broken families or single parents are worse off
 Tend to have more social, psychological, health and
academic problems
 40% of children under 3 years old live with one parent
 50% of women with children under 1 year old work outside
the home and childcare is not a solution.
 Non-maternal care increases children’s aggressive and
violent behavior
 Children and adolescents suffer pressure to
become sexually active through the media
and sex-education programs, which often
foment “safe sex” and homosexuality in
stead of abstinence
 A healthy family, a close and respectful
relationship with the parents, as well as
religiosity are all important deterrents of
adolescents sexual activity
 Birth to mothers under 18 is 29% of nonmarital births and STD cases have increased
among teenagers.


US is the highest of developed countries (49/1000 birth)
followed by Europe (10/1000) and Japan (4/1000)
This has taken place in spite of an increase in the use of
contraceptives (78%)
 Access to family planning increases
underage sexual activity (Kaiser (2000) and
Paton (2002))
 The number of children reporting the use of condoms
has raised from 46% to 63% between 1992 and 2003
 In 1999, 72% of children defined “safe sex” as using
condoms and contraceptives or other means. 28%
defined it as “abstinence.”
There is evidence that sexual activity at this
age had detrimental psychological, health,
behavioral and academic effects on them.
 66% of public schools report the main message of
Sex Education programs to be comprehensive vs.
only 34% reporting to be abstinence.
Figure 5
Social Welfare Government
Expenditures
50
Welfare Expenditures/GDP
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
US
Japan
Ge rmany
France
UK
Swe de n
0
1972
1980
1989
1991
1992
1995
1996
Year
Source: Official Statistics for the respective Countries.
1997
1998
1999
2000
Towards the Protection of
the Family
A Sound Economic Choice
How Government Policies Can Help:
Some Examples
 Legislation that supports families vis a vis other types of
living styles
 Programs that support and promote healthy marriages and
stable families
 Changes in family subsidies for children
 Parental leaves
 Promotion and protection of the family as a means to
eradicate poverty, especially the feminization of poverty
 Programs directed towards fostering functional societies and
markets, where corruption is not a fundamental part of
governmental operations
Microcredit
•
It has shown to be a successful and dollar-efficient lending tool
that has positive results for both individuals and families. It
opens doors to low-income populations in developing countries
while generating significant financial return.
•
It increases income and improves consumption patterns while
bettering the well-being of families.
•
Targeting women and married men has proven to be especially
advantageous for successful programs and for family wellbeing.
•
A group lending model without non-business social objectives
programs attached to it has proven to be most successful.
•
It fostes development, as well as habits that are fundamental for
economic growth: responsibility, accountability, trust, market
operations, education, and creativity.
Other Micro level successful initiatives
 Systems of flexible working hours for men and women





(women tend to use it more): Equality of opportunity
while keeping the role of equity in mind
Working from home or at a distance
On-site day-care or other childcare support provided by
employers
Tenure clock stopped due to maternity
Consulting groups: flexibility but no benefits. It creates
an interesting dynamic
Still there is a need to address the working structure in
terms of family - not any type of family, but the natural
family - and to keep in mind that, many times, this
generates long-term profits rather than short-term
CONCLUSIONS
 The family is a necessary good for real economic
development: it should be promoted and protected by
international and national legislation and policy.
Children develop in the best way within a family
that is functional, i.e., with their biological parents
in a stable marriage.
The breakdown of the family: damages the
economy and the society since human and social
capital is reduced and social costs increased.
 The treatment of the family within the framework of modern
human rights, as captured by the treatment of sexual and
reproductive rights, women and children, has harmed the
family’s stability.
 The language of human rights understood as isolated
rights, fails to address the organic reality of the family
unit. To address this failure, rights should be interpreted
as rights that have an inherent hierarchy, are
interconnected, and see the person in its whole.
 Sex-education programs and the media play an important
role in advancing this agenda: Parents awareness and
involvement are key.
 There are effective family friendly policies available
that have proven to be successful in producing
economic growth while using the resources
efficiently.
 The most potent evidence for the rational observer is
the scientific data, which hold that legislation and
policy which support the family are most beneficial.
Additional Information can
be found at the following
Web addresses :
Heritage Foundation Family Database:

http://www.Heritage.org/Research/featur
es/FamilyDatabase/
Maria Sophia Aguirre

http:// faculty.cua.edu/aguirre
(Both addresses will direct you to many
other sources.)