Cultural underpinning for the development of family policy in a global perspective

Abstract

Country contexts in which state policies for families are created, designed, and carried out differ in many respects. We are particularly interested in the diverse cultural conditions that can subtly pave the way for the perception and acceptance or dismissal of specific policy measures. In what ways and with what objectives the state invests in families, whether and how it considers the normative and moral aspects, as well as the roles and behaviors of family members, can vary considerably across societies even if they are at the same stage of economic development. We cannot assess the direct link between cultural conditions and family policy instruments in this paper. Rather, survey data from the World Values Survey (WVS) and other supplementary information are used to examine attitudes and cultural conceptions of the family, as well as broader cultural conditions around the world. Our descriptive analysis of values and attitudes considers the following dimensions: familialization/defamilialization, secularization and self-realization, gender roles, and openness towards diverse family forms. Further, we examine the countries’ stages in demographic transition and governments’ views and policies on fertility levels in their countries. Systematic differences are found between world regions, which supports the notion that typical cultural traditions and values may be associated with specific policy configurations.