LIST OF PANELS

Over the past decades, it has become clear that there is a substantial and increasing diversity in family forms within most countries. The dominance of life-long marriage has made way for delays in union formation and a rise in cohabitation, while societal and legal evolutions have led to an increase in separations and divorces, often followed up by re-partnering and new family formation. In this respect, we see a growing number of children splitting time between parental homes and sharing the household with new parental figures and siblings. As such, many adults and children will experience being part of various family forms over their life course. It is therefore interesting to note that social policies intended to assist families were often initiated during a period in which stable nuclear families with a breadwinning husband and caregiving wife were seen as the norm. A major question that arises is therefore whether and to what extent these policies have been adapted to fit contemporary divergent family configurations, as well as to what extent existing family policies are (still) adequately responsive to specific countries’ family trajectories.

There is extant research illustrating patterns of fertility, partnership dissolution, and living arrangements across various countries on the one hand, and studies describing family policies and evaluating their general effectiveness on the other. However, far less is known about how these policies function for diverse family forms. Important questions that remain are, for example: How do income support programs work when children split time across parental households? Who is obligated to provide for children when a parent has had children with multiple partners? If a non-biological parent acts as a parent, should they be able to take parental leave? Do the resources and needs of informal cohabitors or co-residing kin factor into benefits?

The overarching research questions of this onsite panel concern whether and to what extent countries (have) adapt(ed) their family policies in light of contemporary family patterns and how these policies are working for diverse family forms. Paper proposals could explore, among others: (a) the extent to which a country’s adaptation or implementation of policy reflecting diverse families is related to the degree of family change within that country, the level of gender equality, and ideologies about family; (b) the extent to which policies that focus on individuals rather than families as the unit of analysis are more effective at supporting a broad array of family forms; (c) whether policies are less effective when they do not match a country’s actual family patterns (e.g., countries whose policies do not provide cohabiting couples with equal rights to married couples may experience more difficulties if they have high rates of cohabitation). As the evolution in family diversity and policy implementations vary across countries, both national and comparative research is vital to increase our understanding of the needs of diverse families, and to advance family policy in a meaningful and effective manner.

The aims of this onsite panel are to i) provide new descriptions of family change across countries; ii) broaden our understanding of the divergent needs within diverse family forms; iii) highlight novel approaches to supporting families in different contexts, and iv) address the extent to which existing family policies seem to be effective. We foresee that addressing these topics especially through comparative approaches will lead to new insights, but also acknowledge the potential benefits of learning from “best practices” shown within specific country settings.

As such, this panel invites papers that describe differences in family policies around the world, with a particular focus on how these policies incorporate contemporary family patterns. Possibilities include (but are not restricted to) cohabitation, multiple-partner fertility, polyamorous families, same-sex parenting, shared care of children after separation, and living in households with extended kin or others. We invite both reviews and original work addressing how a broad array of policies respond to or are shaped by family change, including family leave, early childhood education and care, income support, child custody, child support, and inheritance. Submitted papers could address the effectiveness of a policy based on either its own particular aims, or broader goals such as ameliorating poverty and social exclusion, tackling discrimination, increasing social mobility or increasing gender equality. We also invite papers that propose new family policies which might correspond better with current realities, as well as papers that assess how and to what extent family policies which work well in one country context would need to be adapted to fit another country context.

Finally, we are particularly interested in papers that consider a setting outside of the traditionally studied richer countries and papers that consider more than one country setting. Methodologically, we welcome a broad range of papers, either advancing theory, working with (a mix of) quantitative or qualitative analyses, and/or applying novel research methodologies to explore family change.