A Cross-National Comparison of Family Policy

The societal division of labour between state, family and market A country’s family policy objective depends on the institutional division of labour between the state, the family and the market. [...] A set of inter-related socio-political foundations of the conservative regime include 1) a widespread acceptance of social rights that displace the liberal obsession with market efficiency and commodification; 2) the presence of a well-established Church that is strongly committed to the preservation of traditional familyhood; 3) the dominance of traditional conservatism in the socio-political sys. [...] In the first part, in order to create a solid foundation for comparison, we provide a general overview of the family policy of each country in turn by discussing the following aspects: 6) social and demographic trends in the past few decades 7) nature, objectives and goals of family policy 8) governmental and non-governmental institutions that are involved in the making of family policy 9) benefit. [...] The first perspective consists in analysing the institutional settings and the components of family policy, such as the institutions responsible for the provision of family services and the total amount of money government spent on family allowances. [...] Beyond the comparison of the policy goals, family services and programmes themselves, it is also important to assess the impacts of policies on the well-being of the families.