ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the analyses to the micro-perspectives of families’ economic positions both before and after they have children. The development of harsher, more restricted maintenance systems can bring other types of dependency on the welfare state, and at the same time increase the economic size of the internal transfers in the civil society. The hypothesis to be analysed is whether families in Scandinavia are more in favour of the universal state’s involvement, especially in child care, and whether they are also in favour of a high level of income transfers resulting in economic redistribution. The families have very different viewpoints on whether their economic situation has changed before and after having children. There are only minor differences in the way families view the importance of economic support from the welfare state. The economic support offered to families with children is generally perceived as being very good by the families in the five cities: Roskilde, Nantes, Umeâ, York and Mannheim.
