Measuring the balance of government intervention on forward and backward family transfers using NTA estimates: the modified Lee arrows

In this paper we propose a way to measure the degree of government intervention on forward—from parents to children—and backward—from adult children to elderly parents—intergenerational family transfers (IFT). We carry out a discussion about the possibility of using Generational Accounts (GA) and National Transfer Accounts (NTA) methodologies to generate indicators that could measure government intervention on both sides of IFT. As a result, we propose a modification of arrow diagrams used by Lee (in J. Human Res. 29:1027–1063, 1994b). An illustration of the results in the Spanish case indicates that the degree of government intervention on backward IFT is above that on forward IFT. This could be one of the main reasons to explain the Spanish low fertility rate.