THE PARENTING PROJECT: MOTIVATION, COSTS, RETURN ON INVESTMENT AND THE REGULATORY MECHANISM
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Abstract
This article analyzes a research gap: the insufficient integration of economic and sociological mechanisms aimed at studying costs in the context of parenthood, as well as the formation of tools for inducing population reproduction. The article demonstrates how the profitability of the "Parenthood" project affects its investment attractiveness from the side of direct participants in the reproduction process (the child's parents). The goal is to identify the economic attractiveness of the "Parenthood" project by calculating the author's indicator - the cost of acquiring human capital (Human Capital Acquisition Cost). Methodological basis: publicly available data sources reflecting demographic and socio-economic indicators at the level of the Republic of Belarus and foreign countries. Results: The "Parenthood" project does not have signs of investment attractiveness due to the long payback period. However, the investment involvement of direct and indirect participants in the reproduction process can be regulated through a high-quality selection of project parameters. The results obtained can be used in the development of family and pronatalist policies, as well as in socioeconomic studies of labor and demography.
Further research requires empirical verification on regional samples, including small economies that are close in socio-economic structure to the Belarusian economy.
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