The Development of Family Policy

In the course of the postwar period, universal family support has been introduced in most industrialized nations. Governments may introduce such support in order to attain two policy objectives, raising fertility and increasing the economic well-being of families There have been two major types of universal support to families: different types of family tax reductions on the one hand and cash benefits on the other. In this paper, predictors of the growth of family benefit levels in these systems will be examined. The results indicate that benefit levels are influenced by national political trends. Left party strength has a significant impact on the level of cash benefits, but a weak negative one on tax reductions, the latter type of benefit being more advantageous for earners of high incomes. Religious party strength also has a rather strong influence on family support. In contrast, measures linked to modernization and industrialization do not exercise any strong effect on the extension of family support. Neither measures of economic development nor fertility demonstrate any consistent impact on benefit levels.