5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

This panel expects to contribute to ongoing research and discussions regarding ‘new family policy’ meaning new understandings and forms of provision to provide support to the caring function of increasingly diverse and complex family units. The three broad areas we include under the rubric of family policy are cash transfers to families and children, parental leave provision and childcare services. We welcome papers that critically question the universalising appeal of work-life balance policies mostly designed to cater for the needs of the ‘nuclear family’ and focus on how policy responds to diversity and change in family life especially with a gender and intersectional lense. Examples of such diversity are lone parent families, families in transition, families with a severely ill or disabled child, multi-generational and large families. From the perspective of policy, we are interested in papers that address the need for inclusive, flexible and complementary policy designs and mechanisms. Research looking at the outcomes of specific family policy is also of interest. We welcome contributions that employ different theoretical (such as for instance feminist interpretations of social policy reform) and analytical frameworks and adopt different methodological approaches. We also welcome single country cases and comparative approaches both from the Global North and South.