ABSTRACT
In most countries social policies relating to families are having to cope with similar trends—ageing of the population, an increasing variety of forms of family life, increasing insecurity of employment and increasingly widespread poverty. However, the reforms introduced throughout the world, and more particularly in the industrialized countries, have varied widely according to the family structures peculiar to each country, and more especially according to the place initially occupied by women in the labor market and the methods of providing child care. This chapter addresses three subjects: the harmonization of working life and family responsibilities; family income support; and the conditions under which women can secure social coverage. The chapter deals with the situation in the industrialized countries. The expansion of economic activity among women, and the different ways in which women enter working life, are certainly having an impact on long-term population growth.
