Family Policy Models in the European Union

Abstract

Th e practice of many European Union countries shows that family policy can be served not only as an instrument to support people raising their children or coping with the consequences of demographic crisis, but also as an effi cient tool to introduce gender equality and provide an answer to the economic challenges of the modern world. It is a systematic activity guided by the pragmatic goal of investing in the development of society as a whole and building social capital. Th is kind of activity should be an indispensable element of adjusting to globalization processes. Family policy should be consistent with the aims and aspirations of diverse family models within any given society and encompass transformations of a new model of family, which becomes oft en a form of diff erent partner relationships.