ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the reorientation of Portuguese family, higher education, and immigration policies around an economic development strategy for the twenty-first century occurred very unevenly between 1990 and 2008. The higher education system under the Estado Novo had been accessed only by small elite and offered a narrow set of courses and programmes. Portugal is the Southern European country which has moved the most towards universal health and welfare coverage, even if that coverage is still minimalist compared to other Western European nations. Portugal has consistently been grouped at the bottom of the OECD in terms of generosity, along with Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. The chapter provides an overview of policymaking institutions and processes in relation to work-life balance and family policy before the evolution of policy outcomes. The Portuguese admiration of the French legal and political system has assisted in the construction of a strong statist tradition that survived even late twentieth century democratization.
