Planet Money

Shopping for parental benefits around the world

Mar 1, 2024

Discover the stark differences in parental benefits around the globe. Explore how the U.S. contrasts with countries like Sweden and Singapore in supporting families. Learn about generous parental leave policies and the push for gender equality in caregiving. Delve into Estonia's unique incentives designed to boost birth rates. The episode raises critical questions about why some nations are willing to financially reward parenting while others make it so challenging. It’s a deep dive into economics and family life, revealing intriguing international dynamics.

29:33

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Quick takeaways

Countries like Singapore offer cash bonuses for babies and government-subsidized childcare to address demographic concerns and encourage childbirth.

Sweden's policies promote gender equality by offering long parental leave, subsidized childcare, and incentives for men to take parental leave, resulting in high labor force participation and a smaller gender pay gap.

Deep dives

Singapore's Pro-Natalist Policies

Singapore offers cash bonuses for babies, 3 months of parental leave, government-subsidized childcare, and addresses demographic concerns by incentivizing childbirth. The country experienced a shift in policy to encourage more babies due to declining birth rates, with policies aimed at increasing fertility rates.

Intro

5min

Parental Benefits: A Comparative Study

7min

Sweden's Parental Leave Revolution

5min

Exploring Parental Benefits and Challenges

7min

Pro-Natalist Policies and Parental Benefits: A Global Perspective

8min

Understanding Supermarket Pricing Dynamics

2min

It is so expensive to have a kid in the United States. The U.S. is one of just a handful of countries worldwide with no federal paid parental leave; it offers functionally no public childcare (and private childcare is wildly expensive); and women can expect their pay to take a hit after becoming a parent. (Incidentally, men's wages tend to rise after becoming fathers.)

But outside the U.S., many countries desperately want kids to be born inside their borders. One reason? Many countries are facing a looming problem in their population demographics: they have a ton of aging workers, fewer working-age people paying taxes, and not enough new babies being born to become future workers and taxpayers. And some countries are throwing money at the problem, offering parents generous benefits, even including straight-up cash for kids.

So if the U.S. makes it very hard to have kids, but other countries are willing to pay you for having them....maybe you can see the opportunity here. Very economic, and very pregnant, host Mary Childs did. Which is why she went benefits shopping around the world. Between Sweden, Singapore, South Korea, Estonia, and Canada, who will offer her the best deal for her pregnancy?

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Planet Money

Shopping for parental benefits around the world

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Singapore's Pro-Natalist Policies

Sweden's Gender Equality Focus

Canada's Affordable Child Care Initiative

Estonia's Repopulation Strategy

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts