Public attitudes towards family policies in Europe : linking institutional context and public opinion

Family-policy variation in Europe is still enormous and there is very limited knowledge about the publics’ attitudes toward family-policy measures in a comparative perspective. This book addresses this research gap by combing a profound analysis of existing family-policy measures with a thorough analysis of public attitudes. Based on institutional theory, which argues that institutions structure the processes of orientation, the empirical analyses shed light on the relationship between the current family-policy setup, the social context, and public attitudes toward particular family-policy measures in 12 countries of the European Union. The results demonstrate that the social context needs to be taken into account in order to improve our understanding of attitudinal variation among different countries and family-policy contexts. Moreover, this book points out that only few patterns of social polarization are quasi universal whereas many others are specific to individual countries or certain groups of countries. Family policy variation in Europe is still enormous and there is very limited knowledge about the publicś attitudes toward family-policy measures in a comparative perspective. Monika Mischke addresses this research gap by combining a profound analysis of existing family-policy measures with a thorough analysis of public attitudes. Based on institutional theory, which argues that institutions structure the process of orientation, the empirical analysis sheds light on the relationship between the current family-policy setup, the social context, and public attitudes toward particular family-policy measures in 12 countries of the European Union. The results demonstrate that the social context needs to be taken into account in order to improve our understanding of attitudinal variation among different countries and family-policy contexts. Moreover, the author points out that only a few patterns of social polarization are quasi universal, whereas many others are specific to individual countries or certain groups of countries. Contents Theoretical background and literature review Family policies in Europe - a cluster analysis Family policy, contextual features, and public opinion. Social cleavages within European welfare states Target Groups Scholars and students of social policy, sociology, political science, and social work Practitioners involved in policy making and evaluation, interest groups, and welfare organizations The Author Monika Mischke holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Mannheim and is currently working as a postdoctoral research fellow and lecturer at Siegen University Family policy variation in Europe is still enormous and there is very limited knowledge about the publics attitudes toward family-policy measures in a comparative perspective. Monika Mischke addresses this research gap by combining a profound analysis of existing family-policy measures with a thorough analysis of public attitudes. Based on institutional theory, which argues that institutions structure the process of orientation, the empirical analysis sheds light on the relationship between the current family-policy setup, the social context, and public attitudes toward particular family-policy measures in 12 countries of the European Union. The results demonstrate that the social context needs to be taken into account in order to improve our understanding of attitudinal variation among different countries and family-policy contexts. Moreover, the author points out that only a few patterns of social polarization are quasi universal, whereas many others are specific to individual countries or certain groups of countries. Contents Theoretical background and literature review Family policies in Europe a cluster analysis Family policy, contextual features, and public opinion. Social cleavages within European welfare states Target Groups Scholars and students of social policy, sociology, political science, and social work Practitioners involved in policy making and evaluation, interest groups, and welfare organizations Front Matter....Pages 1-10 Introduction....Pages 11-23 Theoretical background and literature review....Pages 25-74 Family policies in Europe – a cluster analysis....Pages 75-101 Family policies and public opinion....Pages 103-127 Family policy, contextual features, and public opinion....Pages 129-155 Social cleavages within European welfare states....Pages 157-204 Summary and discussion....Pages 205-227 Back Matter....Pages 229-240