Boosting Fertility with Remote Work: ISPS and MacMillan Center Introduce Grants for Studies on Global and Domestic Issues

By 2050, more than 75% of countries in the world will not produce enough babies to replace their populations, according to a study published this spring in The Lancet. By 2100, 97% of countries will have an insufficient fertility rate to replace their population, while low-income countries will continue to experience relatively high fertility rates.

Governments have begun to grapple with the challenges this growing demographical divide poses to their economies, food security, health, the environment, and more as they find ways to support their aging populations. Policies aimed at increasing immigration from low-income countries have proven politically unpopular. Providing financial incentives for childbirth has been expensive and not feasible.

Institution for Social and Policy Studies faculty fellow Emma Zang has uncovered some evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic introduced one possible solution: A baby boom facilitated by remote work.

“Many countries have tried many different approaches, and most policies haven’t been effective at all,” said Zang, an assistant professor of sociology, biostatistics, and global affairs. “But perhaps we can encourage more women to give birth through more flexible work arrangements so they can more easily integrate their careers and family.”

In 2022, about 59% of workers in the United States were working at least one day at home each week, an enormous increase from before the pandemic. Zang and her colleagues have produced preliminary findings to show that increasing opportunities for remote work in the United States have and will continue to increase the fertility rate.

In a new study, Zang and her colleagues are exploring the viability of increasing fertility through remote work in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, with support of a new grant program from ISPS and the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale. In addition, ISPS is supporting a second study to determine how willing people of various demographics might be to receive lower salaries for the opportunity to work at home.

“We are pleased to support these innovative and important studies with our partners at ISPS,” said MacMillan Center Director Steven Wilkinson, Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies and professor of political science and international affairs. “We live in an interconnected world, and these ISPS-MacMillan collaborative grants allow us to fund policy-relevant research that also crosses traditional geographic and disciplinary boundaries, while making application processes simpler for our faculty.”

In addition to Zang’s project, the new grants include funding for a study of inter-religious dialogue in Pakistan, an evaluation of the effects of an enhanced preschool intervention on child learning and female socioeconomic empowerment in Kenya, investigating the sociological phenomena around the new class of medications for obesity as the latest example of a technological quick-fix solution, and assessing the effectiveness of social media campaigns to sway public opinion about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We are thrilled to announce the first projects funded through this new initiative with our longstanding partners at MacMillan,” said ISPS Director Alan Gerber, Sterling Professor of Political Science. “While ISPS typically focuses on domestic social and policy issues and MacMillan focuses on international and regional matters, this new grant program provides the flexibility for faculty to assemble multidisciplinary research teams and proposals on themes without concern for domestic and international distinctions.”

The ISPS-MacMillan Multidisciplinary Research Fund will announce a timeline for new applications later this year.

ISPS also offers funding for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members for event planning and research projects, including field experiments, surveys, and democratic innovations. The deadline for new applications is Oct. 1.

“I am extremely grateful to ISPS and MacMillan for supporting my research,” Zang said. “These grants allow us to refine our experimental designs and demonstrate feasibility to obtain additional resources.”

In addition to publishing her studies on remote work in academic journals, Zang and her colleagues aim to write pieces for general audiences and reach out to policymakers.

“Our ultimate goal in conducting these projects is to influence employers and the general public,” she said. “People are very optimistic about the benefits of moving to remote work, particularly hybrid arrangements with some days in the office and some days at home. And if our findings are confirmed, it will be a very exciting direction for fertility policy.”