Critical Review on Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe

Critical Review of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe

Final Report

Critical Review of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe has been prepared by Karin Wall, Mafalda Leitão and Vasco Ramos at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon.

Keywords: family structures and family forms, state family policies, family and living environments, family management, social care and social services, social inequality and diversity, media and education, transitions to adulthood, motherhood, fatherhood, ageing, conjugal life, relationships and wellbeing, gender equality, reconciling work and care, role of family associations, critical review, conference report, key policy issues.

Abstract: The Critical Review of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe is the concluding report of the second work package (Critical Review). It reports on the international conference “Families and Family Policies in Europe – A Critical Review”, which took place in Lisbon, at the Institute for Social Sciences (University of Lisbon), in May 2010. Organised by the FAMILYPLATFORM consortium, the main objective of this three day conference was to carry out a critical review of existing research on families and family policies in Europe. Drawing on expert reviews of the state of the art, critical statements by participants, and debate on the major challenges for research and policies, the conference was organised with a view to providing a major forum for discussing and identifying the design of future family policies and research.

The conference thus represented a new experience and point of departure, by bringing together specialists from different work communities that normally do not engage intensely with each other’s thoughts, understandings, agendas and work. The review sets out to provide information on this forum on the basis of two perspectives: first, to allow for a detailed description of the structure and main contributions which took place; secondly, to bear witness to some of the interactions and processes of the conference, consisting of questions, arguments, and discussions, which were overall lively and mutually enriching, but also imparted diverse and sometimes contrasting perspectives on the wellbeing of families in European societies and the issues to be put on the agenda. The report will give readers an idea of the current cross‐roads and patchwork of thoughts, doubts and agendas concerning families and family policies which exist across Europe.

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