Conclusion: The Next Decade of Family Policy Research

Based on the multilevel perspective on family policy research brought together in this handbook, this chapter highlights five major societal challenges for the future outlook and outcomes of family policies, and reflects on what the handbook teaches us about how to effectively address these challenges, as well as what there is yet to learn. The challenges pertain to the (1) levels of policy implementation, and in particular globalization and decentralization, (2) austerity and marketization, (3) economic inequality, (4) changing family relations, and (5) welfare states adapting to women’s empowered roles. The chapter concludes by examining what lessons were learned, and are yet to learn, regarding the capacity of family policies to cope with shocks of various kinds and to support families during extraordinary times.