ABSTRACT
European Union institutions as well as member states are embracing welfare policies that support reconciliation of work and family life as a means of solving problems of low fertility and gender inequality, and they do so unanimously within a welfare mix approach. Hence, viewing the social policy rhetoric, everything points to a convergence of European welfare models towards a mixed economy of welfare. However, analysing the everyday experiences of families with young children in four European cities leaves the impression of a continuation of past differences. In 1998/1999 no deviation from the traditional welfare and family policy models could be traced in Roskilde (Denmark), Nantes (France), Mannheim (Germany) and York (the United Kingdom).
