LIST OF WORKSHOPS

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

The organizers of this proposed workshop led a successful panel on Family Change at the IPPA 2021 Conference. The panel received more abstracts than we could accept, demonstrating substantial interest among researchers around the world. The two sessions of the panel were quite productive, highlighting current work, showing potential synergies between researchers, and leading to lively discussion about how research on family policy could move forward to be more impactful, furthering both knowledge and actual policy change.

There is consensus in the academic literature that families are changing around the world. Whether this is described as the Second Demographic Transition or discussed in terms of whether family patterns are converging around the world, the reality of change is acknowledged. There is also a sense that family policies have not necessarily taken some of these changes into account. To introduce this area of interest, we highlight one such demographic change, the increasing trend in many countries toward children spending substantial (or equal) time living separately with each parent following parental separation. This family form, shared care, is creating difficulty for policy in that many programs are available only for families with children, so it is unclear whether both parents should be eligible or only one. As an example, should the rules for public housing provide a bedroom for a child in each parent’s home, or only one?  Even more difficult, some means-tested policies have larger benefits for larger families, and for these policies the benefit schedule generally does not consider children who live in a family part-time. Should benefit schedules be changed to allow for part-time residents? Several of the papers we received for IPPA 2020 panel examined policies surrounding shared care, with papers exploring the extent to which parents with shared care were eligible for family benefits, whether a country’s custody policies were related to the kinds of families that share care, and parental satisfaction with these arrangements. Indeed, we carved out one of our two sessions to focus on the policies surrounding shared care. The papers, and various discussions we have had since, have shown us substantial policymaker and researcher interest in shared care, and we would like to gather researchers interested in these issues together to substantially increase what is known in this area.

However, a workshop focused only on policies surrounding shared care in different countries would be interesting but would not have the richness that may be possible if the discussion is grounded in a broader conversation about family change and whether policies are working well for those with diverse family forms. As a result, we propose a workshop that discusses family change and family policy more broadly, hoping that any discussions of shared care can draw on discussions of ways other family constellations are treated in policy in various countries.

Our objectives are: (1) to add to the state of knowledge on the extent of family change and the way that policy is responding to these changes around the world; (2) to bring together individual researchers (and research teams) working in different countries and working on different policies to learn from each other, and in so doing to further the quality and quantity of research in this area; (3) to identify ways that countries can learn from each other in adapting policies to fit new family forms; (4) to discuss actionable policy steps that are supported by research; and (5) to promote this policy area among early-career researchers who will then be poised to make sustained impacts on policy.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND SCIENTIFIC RELEVANCE

Within most countries, substantial diversity in children’s family experiences exists. Many children experience their parents’ separation, and an increasing number of these children are splitting time between both parental homes. Many children whose parents separate then face their parents’ re-partnering, bringing potential earners and/or caregivers and perhaps new siblings into their lives. Many children now live in extended-family households. Moreover, these family changes are not uniformly experienced, but many are especially prevalent among those with lower socioeconomic status.

The proportion of children who experience family change has increased over time. Increases in cohabitation and in same-sex partnerships, declines in marriage, dramatic changes in fertility, increases in family instability, changes in co-residence with grandparents or other kin, and substantial changes in children’s living arrangements after divorce in some countries have all transformed the context in which family policy operates.  Yet many family policies were designed during a different period and were presumed to be addressing families defined by husband-wife couples in stable relationships who lived with their biological children.  The overarching interest in this workshop is whether these policies have been adapted to fit contemporary family patterns. For example, is parental leave available only to biological/adopted parents, or also to stepparents, grandparents or other kin who are acting as primary parts of the child’s family? How do countries provide for same-sex couples if their parental leave policies are different for mothers and fathers? Are the rules for inheritance the same if individuals cohabit versus marry?  Does a country count the resources and needs of extended family members who co-reside in their means-tested income support program? Who is obligated to provide for children when a parent has had children with multiple partners?

The overarching research question for this workshop is: “What are a country’s family patterns, and are their current family policies working well considering these patterns?” Papers could explore the following hypotheses (or related ones): (a) the extent to which a country has adapted or instituted policy that reflects diverse families is related to the degree of family change within that country, the level of gender equality, and ideologies about family; (b) 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) policies are less effective when they do not match what a country’s family patterns actually are (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).

POTENTIAL PAPERS

We are aware of some current projects and have asked researchers for titles of papers for which they would consider submitting abstracts. We received responses from researchers around the world (Colombia, US, Finland, Australia, Germany, Belgium, UK, Malaysia, and Sweden), and authors include students, postdoctoral fellows, researchers, professors, and those within government:   

Papers about child support:

·      “Child support policy and access to justice: Evidence from custodial mothers in Colombia.” Assistant Professor Angela Guarin, Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia) and Researcher Kasey J. Eickmeyer, Self-Employed (Colombia)

·      “Child support policy and poverty among custodial-mother families in Chile and Colombia: A longitudinal analysis.” Assistant Professor Laura Cuesta, Rutgers University (US) and Researcher Sarah Reynolds, University of California, Berkeley (US)

·      “Child support policy in middle and low-income countries.”  Assistant Professor Laura Cuesta, Rutgers University (US); Senior Research Fellow Mia Hakovirta, University of Turku (Finland); Research Assistant Mari Haapanen, University of Turku (Finland); and Professor Daniel R. Meyer, University of Wisconsin-Madison (US)

·      “Child support: Revisiting the adequacy–equity conundrum in changing times in Australia and the US”, Professor Bruce Smyth, Australia National University; J. Thomas Oldham, University of Houston (US); and Director Prem Aleema, Commonwealth Ombudsman (Australia)

Papers about shared care and child custody:

·      “Post-divorce placement arrangements and resource sharing across households: A comparative analysis of the United States, Finland, and Germany.” Professor Judith Bartfeld, University of Wisconsin – Madison (US); Professor Lawrence Berger, University of Wisconsin – Madison (US); Research Assistant Mari Haapanen, University of Turku (Finland); Senior Research Fellow Mia Hakovirta, University of Turku (Finland); Researcher Anneli Miettinen, Social Insurance Institution (Finland); Postdoctoral Fellow Quentin H. Riser, University of Wisconsin – Madison (US); and Professor Anja Steinbach, University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany). 

·       “Supporting shared physical custody in Belgium and Italy: the role of local policies.”  Professor Laura Merla, UCLouvain (Belgium) and Postdoctoral Researcher Lorena Izaguirre, UCLouvain (Belgium)

·      "They're (not) staying put: child custody enforcement in Belgium."  Postdoctoral Researcher Elke Claessens, University of Antwerp (Belgium) and Professor Dimitri Mortelmans, University of Antwerp (Belgium)

·      “What is the problem? Policy-makers perception and response to benefit adjustments to accommodate shared parenting.”  Director Tina Haux, National Centre for Social Research (UK)

Other papers about family policy and family change:

·      “Exploring the roles of public policy in supporting single mother families in Malaysia.”  Senior Lecturer Zarina Md Nor, Universiti Sains Malaysia

·      “A family-friendly and equal transition to parenthood? Social transfers and earnings development in different-sex and female same-sex couples in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.”  Researcher Marie Evertsson; Postdoctoral Fellow Ylva Moberg; and Postdoctoral Fellow Maaike van der Vleuten, Stockholm University

·      “Family transitions, poverty and child conduct and emotional issues.”  Professor Morag Treanor and Dr Patricio Troncoso, Heriot-Watt University (UK)

We anticipate the workshop will provide new descriptions of family change across countries, highlight novel approaches to supporting families in different contexts, and address whether family policies seem to be effective. We foresee that addressing these topics through comparative analysis will lead to new insights.

We invite papers that describe differences in family policies around the world, with a particular focus on how these policies incorporate contemporary family patterns, including cohabitation, multiple-partner fertility, shared care of children after separation, and living in households with extended kin or others. We invite both reviews and original work on whether a particular family policy is working for those with various family patterns. Papers could address a range of policy areas, including family leave, early childhood education and care, income support, child custody, child support, inheritance, housing; indeed, we are interested in how a broad array of policies respond to or are shaped by family change.  These papers could address the effectiveness of a policy based on its own particular goals or broader goals like ameliorating poverty and social exclusion, increasing social mobility or increasing gender equality.  We also invite papers that propose new family policies that might fit better with current realities or those that assess whether family policies that seem to be working well in one country context would need to be adapted to fit another country context.

In this workshop we are particularly interested in papers that consider a country outside of the rich countries that are the subject of much of the research in this area. We are also particularly interested in papers that consider more than one country. Finally, we welcome papers advancing theory and those working with either quantitative or qualitative analyses and applying novel research methodologies to explore family change.

Within most countries, substantial diversity in children’s family experiences exists. Many children experience their parents’ separation, and an increasing number of these children are splitting time between both parental homes. Many children whose parents separate then face their parents’ re-partnering, bringing potential earners and/or caregivers and perhaps new siblings into their lives. Many children now live in extended-family households. Moreover, these family changes are not uniformly experienced, but are especially prevalent among those with lower socioeconomic status.

Often social policies intended to assist families were initiated during a period in which stable nuclear families with a breadwinning husband and caregiving wife were seen as the norm. Have these policies been adapted to fit contemporary family patterns? What are a country’s family patterns, and are their current family policies working well considering these patterns? It is important for those living in non-traditional family settings to have access to social protections that suit their family arrangements.

Extant research describes patterns of fertility, partnership dissolution, and living arrangements across various countries, and other research describes general family policies and provides overviews of their effectiveness. But substantially less is known about how policies work for those with diverse family forms. 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? This workshop will examine questions like these in an effort to understand whether countries adapt their policies in light of contemporary family patterns and how their policies work for diverse family forms.

Mia Hakovirta, PhD is social work, is a Senior Research Fellow in Invest Flagship program at the University of Turku, Finland. Her research has focused on single motherhood, recently particularly on shared care arrangements and child support policies. She conducted together with Social Insurance Institution the study of shared care families and family policies in Finland for the Finnish government. In September 2021, she started a new four years comparative research project on economic consequences of shared care. Most recent publications include “Child Support in Shared Care Cases: Do Child Support Policies in Thirteen Countries Reflect Family Policy Models?” (Social Policy & Society) and “Lone mothers and child support receipt in 21 European countries” (Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy). Current projects include examining how parents allocate financial resources if there is a shared care, parental satisfaction with shared-care and child support arrangements and how different countries have adapted their family policies to acknowledge shared care.

Daniel R. Meyer, PhD in Social Welfare, is a Professor in the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  He conducts research through the Institute for Research on Poverty, focusing on policies that impact the economic well-being of lone-parent families in the US and globally. Recent publications (with various co-authors) include: ““Do Low-Income Noncustodial Fathers Trade Families? Economic Contributions to Children in Multiple Families,” (Social Service Review), “Do Carrots Work Better than Sticks? Results from the Child Support Noncustodial Parent Demonstration Program” (forthcoming in Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, “Child Support in Shared Care Cases: Do Child Support Policies in Thirteen Countries Reflect Family Policy Models?” (Social Policy & Society), “Family Complexity: Implications for Policy and Research” (The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science). Current projects include examining parental satisfaction with shared-care arrangements, the relationship between child support orders and inequality between ex-partners in 13 countries, and the difficulties created by contemporary family patterns for poverty measurement.

Christine Skinner, Emeritus Professor at the University of York’s Social Policy Department,  is an expert in child support policy with over 20 years’ experience researching the lives of separated families. She has worked on numerous research projects for the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council and the Department of Work and Pensions. Christine’s’ research has impacted on UK policy developments and she has acted as specialist policy adviser to the House of Commons Select Committee, the National Audit Office and the Ministerial ‘Expert Steering Group on Relationship Support Services’. Known internationally, she has advised other policy making bodies on child support in Korea, France and Australia and she has conducted comparative analysis of child support schemes across many countries. In 2021, Christine and colleagues published results from a comparative analysis of child support schemes: ‘Shared physical custody and child maintenance arrangements: A comparative analysis of 13 countries’ in Laura Bernardi and Dimitri Mortelmans (Eds) Interdisciplinary Insights on Shared Physical Custody. Springer and ‘Separated families and child support policies in times of social change: a comparative analysis’ in Rense Nieuwenhuis and Wim Van Lancker (Eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy.