Family Policy Development across Space and Time: A State-of-the-Art Review

The study of family policy—defined as a policy package aimed at supporting families with young children through provisions of “time,” “cash,” and “services”—gained prominence in the literature starting in the 1990s. We offer a systematic overview of the family policy development literature, highlighting the main approaches, interpretations, drivers, and factors explaining change in this policy domain. The article makes two contributions. First, drawing from welfare state development theory, it conceptually (re)organizes a fragmented debate, considering functionalist, political, institutional, ideational, and transnational approaches. Second, based on insights from 85 studies across 53 countries and moving beyond high-income countries, it summarizes the debate and proposes research avenues that refocus attention to space and time. While the primary focus of the review is to provide a holistic account of family policy development, the article also includes tables serving as a detailed reference for scholars with specific theoretical, methodological, country-specific, and policy-related interests.