This study, part of a series on OECD countries, considers how a tax/benefit and childcare policies and workplace practices help determine parental labour market outcomes and may impinge on family formation in New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland. The book makes recommendations for policy reform...

Finding a suitable work/family balance is a challenge that all parents face. Many parents and children in New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland are happy with their existing arrangements. However, many others feel seriously constrained in one way or another, and their personal well-being suffers...

In 1933, the German government introduced the marriage loan for newlyweds, a policy aimed at increasing marriages and births as well as male employment, which entailed a work ban for the wife and sizeable credit deductions for children. This paper illustrates that the policy was rather...