ABSTRACT
In France, family policy intervention has been legitimated more than 150 years ago. The mix of demographic intentions, social objectives, and the ideal of ‘freedom of choice’ in the arrangement of the everyday lives of households with children has created an extensive and complex range of family benefits. Since the 1970s, the public support of working mothers has not only led to dominance of the dual-earner model but also facilitated the decoupling of partnership, childbearing, and marriage. Today, several family forms and living arrangements are socially accepted, but this diversity is only partially visible. Due to the universalist republican ideal, it remains difficult to collect or to find data on ethnic origin, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. This gap in statistics makes it difficult to compare France with other countries.
