This article critically reviews existing concepts and measurements of how states regulate reproductive processes such as contraceptive use, abortion and pregnancy, and introduces a new conceptually-grounded international policy database on reproduction policies. With regulating reproduction,...

This study investigates whether generous family policies at the transition to parenthood reduce single and partnered mothers’ economic disadvantages later in the life course. Previous research usually focused on the immediate effects of family policies and disregards potential longer-term...

The article conceptualizes student funding systems in order to investigate their ideological and political underpinnings. Using different long-term measures of cumulative power of four-party families and their combinations, and the newly created Student Support and Fees Dataset, it shows that...

This study examines how public policies affect parents’ preferences for a more egalitarian division of paid and unpaid work. Based on the assumption that individuals develop their preferences within a specific policy context, we examine how changes in three policies affect mothers’ and...

Families’ economic wealth is a resource that can provide children with crucial advantages early in their lives. Prior research identified substantial variation of wealth levels between different family types with children from single-parent families being most disadvantaged. The causes of this...

Since the millennium, the labour market participation of women and mothers is increasing across European countries. Several work/care policy measures underlie this evolution. At the same time, the labour market behaviour of fathers, as well as their involvement in care work, is relatively...

The last 20 years have seen a substantial increase in enrolment in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in several European countries. The expansion of ECEC services inevitably requires new staff. There is however a tension between a rapid growth of services via the creation of low-paid,...

Many institutional theories assume that institutions function in conjunction with each other and, therefore, constitute regimes. Moreover, when analysing institutional effects most researchers maintain a purely variable-oriented approach and its ceteris-paribus logic of causal association. This...

Owing to the recent recession, the German apprenticeship model is once again praised for smoothing out school-to-work transitions. In line with the social policy shift of favouring education as a key means to combat youth unemployment, European Union (EU) recommendations and German national...

This Special Issue considers education as a social policy in its own right, from a life-course perspective and in relation to other policy areas. It recognizes the complexity of education systems and their multi-stage architecture. The volume broadens our understanding of the role of...