The Family as a Public Issue: The Development of Swedish Family Policy, 1930-1950

2020 ◽  
pp. 105-127
Author(s):  
David Popenoe
2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-121
Author(s):  
Marisa Hawley ◽  
Matthew E. Carnes

ABSTRACTRecent years have seen the rapid passage and modification of family leave policies in Latin America, a surprising trend, given the region’s historically conservative gender norms. This article argues that the rise of new paternity leave policies—as well as the modifications to longer-standing maternity leave policies—reflects contending visions of gender and the family, mediated by the institutions and actors that populate the region’s political landscape. Using an original dataset of family policy measures, this article finds that the factors facilitating the adoption of new, vanguard policies, such as paternity leave, function in ways different from those that shape the expansion of longer-standing policies, including maternity leave.


2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 45-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Edman

■ Aims The aim of this article is to investigate the problem formulations – the preconceptions about causes and effects and the possible solutions to the problems of alcohol abuse – that characterized the compulsory institutional care of alcohol abusers in Sweden in the 20th century. The article focuses on problem formulations that actually were practised in the institutions. ■ Methods & Data The main source material is to be found in the archives of four institutionalized care establishments and consists of official reports, correspondence, supply estimates, circulars for consideration and – above all – patient records. From this material you can learn about the institutions' struggle for autonomy, expansion and legitimacy, and also about the clients' characteristics and how the clients were viewed. The study of the archives allows you to form a picture of the problem formulations that affected the activities in the institutions directly, a picture that goes beyond the more abstract expectations preferred by official reports and legislation. ■ Results Within the compulsory institutional care actually carried out, the problem formulations that were stipulated in the gender-neutral legislation and vague regulations became gender-specific and precise. The treatment of alcohol abusers was a class and gender related project, aiming not only at encouraging male diligence and the fulfilling of a man's maintenance obligation but also at female virtuousness and concern for the family. ■ Conclusions The history of alcohol abusers' treatment shows that alcohol itself has been a secondary factor in problem definitions which have let themselves be attached – via perceived links with either cause or effect – to more overarching social issues in Sweden. The concerns of emergent family policy in the 1940s, the developmental optimism and scientistic passions of the 1950s, and the systemically critical protest movements of the 1970s are all clearly reflected in trends within social care services for alcohol abusers – albeit much more often at the level of discourse than of praxis.


1984 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-27
Author(s):  
Susan M. Griffin

In Victoria at the present time a major review is being undertaken into child welfare practice and legislation. The importance of this task is two-fold. Not only do children have to gain from a sensitive and workable final Report, but families too could find that they will be offered the support they need to assist in the difficult task of raising children today. It is hoped that the Review Committee will not concentrate solely on the rights of the child, but will also give due recognition to the rights of the family to a caring and protective environment.The Victorian Government was the first state government to adopt a family policy approach to dealing with the child. This was confirmed by the Norgard Report (1976) and formed the basis of a submission by the Victorian Minister of Social Welfare to the Federal Minister of Social Security (1977) which culminated in the Family Support Services Scheme being set up the following year. This joint federal/state program officially recognised the interaction of children’s rights and needs with those of their parents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Stanfors

The role of the family in Swedish welfare policyIn the present article, I discuss the role of the family in Swedish welfare policy, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. I analyse men’s and women’s time use and focus on the organization of paid and unpaid work. I describe how time allocation varies with gender, family status, and life cycle. The analysis shows that the family plays a more important role in practice than in theory, mainly through the fact that women perform more unpaid work (housework and caregiving) than men, which affects both their income and their well-being negatively. I argue that gender equality must be given a more prominent position in Swedish welfare policy. For example, family policy must be reformed, with gender equality on the labour market and in the home as an explicit goal. The present situation for working parents is different from that of previous decades when Swedish family policy was formulated. Reforms are thus necessary for safeguarding welfare and population well-being in the short and long run.


Author(s):  
Tatyana Anatolievna Mikhailova

One of the directions of social policy is to improve the situation of children and families with children. The main objectives of family policy are related to improving the well-being of the family. In this regard, it becomes obvious that there is a need to develop a system of measures for early identification of families in crisis.


Author(s):  
Anna A. Toropova ◽  

Family issues and the topic of social family policy in Greece is the subject of researches by a number of Greek sociologists (V. Filias (Β. Φίλιας), G.-S. Prevelakis (Γ.-Σ. Πρεβελάκης), H. Simeonidou (Χ. Συμεωνίδου), G. Georgas (Γ. Γεωργάς), L. Musuru (Λ. Μουσούρου), L. Maratu-Aliprandi (Λ. Μαράτου-Αλιπράντη). It seems interesting and useful to consider the situation in Greece from the point of view of its ambivalent nature: traditional values and patriarchal order, on the one hand, and adherence to liberal European sentiments, on the other. In the modern world, there is a "reformatting of ideas about the essence of family and marriage" [Noskova A. V., 2017: 123], which leads, in particular, to the rejection of having children, to increasingly frequent divorces "for no reason", to irresponsibility in awareness roles in the family, to the vulnerability of socialization, to the infantilism of adults, to avoidance of awareness of problems of various kinds, to egocentrism. Modern Greece is not an exception. The growing number of single-parent families in cities, low birth rates, divorces, loneliness, depression are characteristic features of many families. This allows us to speak about the “crisis of the Greek family” [Γεωργάς, 2010]. This research may be of interest to specialists dealing with the topic of the family, and significantly supplement the existing research in the domestic sociological field.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document