Tertiary Sector as a Moderator for Developing Family-Friendly Policy

Abstract

The Russian tertiary sector plays a special role in today’s family and demographic policy, in increasing birth rates and fostering family values. The new state strategy of the family and demographic policy in Russia until 2036 features non-governmental organizations and civil society institutions among key actors for strengthening the family institute and increasing birth rates. The study explores the potential for civil society actors to participate in the process of engaging businesses in demographic policy. An effective tool for raising birth rates, this engagement is generating a corporate subsector within demographic policy. In Russia, both employer associations (unions of industrialists and entrepreneurs) and public parent organizations operate as non-profit organizations, representing various segments of civil society. However, corporate demographic initiatives remain spontaneous, fragmented, and poorly integrated in social management systems. The research question is the following: What role, if any, can non-profit organizations potentially play in establishing a dialogue between state and business on fostering sustainable family-friendly policy? Based on the results of employee surveys (N=2,520), in-depth interviews with employers (N=60) and regional officials (N=20), the paper analyzes requirements and expectations, which arise at the interface of government, society, and business. The results show that Russian employees need environmental and organizational support, while corporate measures focus on image. Business engagement with family-friendly policy is inconsistent, while companies willing to participate in demographic policy lack familiarity with the mechanisms governing their involvement. The government calls for greater social responsibility from business while acknowledging a deficit in the coordination instruments inside the system and with external actors. The interaction between the government and certain companies is situational and personalized, lacking consistent channels for collective representation and dialogue. The authors argue that the critical vulnerability lies not in the lack of business sector’s desire to foster a pro-family environment, but in the marginal role of tertiary-sector organizations that could function as mediators ensuring horizontal coordination, feedback, and trust between key players of demographic policy. By conceptualizing business associations and pro-family non-profit organizations as “silent mediators”, the authors demonstrate that their absence in demographic policy results not from the lack of social demand, but from the institutional ambiguity of their status and functions in the cooperation between business and government. Though based on a Russian case, the analysis is applicable to countries facing demographic decline that seek business engagement to address it.