...This chapter suggests that family policy is one aspect of social policy where the coalition with the Liberal Democrats may push the Conservatives in a more socially liberal direction. It first considers the genesis and development of current Conservative attitudes to marriage and the family. Next...

...–89 brought some changes in social policy, designed to protect families from the effects of the increasing economic crisis. Some social-policy commentators argue that, in the 1990s, the programme of family policy was not adapted to the conditions arising from the change to the new market economy...

... households welfare reform family policy universal credit illness and disability childcare provision income adequacy and employment fuel poverty local services The wider political context within which this study is set is one of radical reform of the welfare state in the UK. This chapter discusses...

...This chapter discusses the connection between the policies of parenthood and fertility levels. It argues that the role of family policies in maintaining high fertility levels is often overstated. It also determines that the current Nordic fertility patterns indicate that a sustainable level...

...This chapter gathers survey data and analyses the outcome of the 1990s family policy reforms using a gender equality perspective. It examines two different policy reforms: the parents' views on the arrangement of parental leave and how it should be shared by the parents, and the issue of parents...

... substantial variations in grandmaternal childcare across Europe.. grandparental childcare family policies grandmothers Leitner S Lewis J Saraceno C Bordone V Haberkern K Hagestad G Herlofson K Igel C Jappens M Neuberger F Pfau Effinger B Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe SHARE...

...This chapter analyses why Finnish fathers do not take more parental leave even if promoting gender equality has been a longstanding goal of family policy. It shows that the obstacles are to be found not only in factors at the individual level but also in the structuring of leave schemes...

... and its relationship to whole family policies, Morris and Featherstone observe that: ‘[T] he last decade represents a lost opportunity to construct family policies which engage with the complexity and diversity of the lived experiences of families and contemporary family practices. Policies have not been...

...This chapter examines the family policy of New Labour. It begins by studying the claim that the creation in 2003 of a new Ministry for Children, Young People, and Families actually marked the arrival of an explicit, universal, and child-centred family policy. The four key features of this family...

...This chapter draws together the findings of the preceding chapters, highlighting the reforms and visions that have shaped family-policy paradoxes in Sweden over more than seven decades and have created the currently widely debated policy model for reconciling work and family life. Few if any policy...

...This chapter examines variation in the trend of work–family policy expansion, by exploring the reforms in four latecomer countries: Germany, England, South Korea and Japan. It argues that the different extents of expansion observed in the four countries can be explained by how much each country...

... the data and follows on from Children of the 21st century: From birth to nine months (The Policy Press, 2005). It takes an extended look at the children's lives and development as they grow and begin formal education, and the implications for family policy, and service planning in health...

... of tension between the generations. The implications of these findings for family policy and professional practice are considered, in a context where kin care is increasingly assumed and relied upon by state welfare agencies. Over time we were able to discern how grandparental involvement...

... and family policy. It determines that the family is often invoked in justifications of inequality, and that those who care about ‘family values’ should focus on the needs of those least able to enjoy them. equality family liberty social justice family values gender children Locke John relationship...

...This chapter examines Mod (a ‘modernising’ and investment agenda for change) and Rocker (seeking to conserve established doctrines) approaches to coalition family policy. It argues that Mod and Rocker tensions and alliances can be demonstrated in the socially liberal opening up and moral...

... employment patterns, family policy regimes and norms of familial obligation? Using Time Use Surveys of Australia, Korea, Italy and France this chapter will explore how grandparents are spending their time with grandchildren. It reveals cross-national similarities and differences in the gendered distribution...

... is to understand the NECF in the context of changing ideas about child and family policy and broader thinking about the nature of social exclusion and how this might be challenged. One of the central concepts guiding the design of the NECF was prevention (alongside partnership and participation). The NECF was set...

... involvement in childrearing. This marks a decisive move away from Germany's traditional family policy path, which like the welfare system as a whole had been built on the assumption of a male breadwinner family model. The long-standing political focus on home care and the importance of mother-child relations...