Theories of the Family and Policy

Veronica Jacobsen (), Lindy Fursman, John Bryant (), Megan Claridge and Benedikte Jensen ()
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Benedikte Jensen: New Zealand Treasury

No 04/02, Treasury Working Paper Series from New Zealand Treasury

Abstract: Policy interventions that affect or are mediated through the family typically assume a behavioural response. Policy analyses proceeding from different disciplinary bases may come to quite different conclusions about the effects of policies on families, depending how individuals within families behave. This paper identifies the implications of five theories of family and individual behaviour for the likely success of policy intervention. Anthropology documents not only the universality of the family, but also its many forms. Economic theory illustrates the capacity for well-intentioned policy to be thwarted by individual rationality. Evolutionary biology suggests that a number of fundamental drivers of behaviour are genetic predispositions and can be difficult to influence through policy. Sociology emphasises the role of social norms but recognises that individualism limits the influence of society generally on individual behaviour. Understanding the theories of the family emanating from different disciplines can enrich policy analysis by identifying how and why behaviour can be influenced. It also can serve to remind researchers of the resilience of the family and the limits of government intervention.

Keywords: family; kinship; family structure; family formation; family dissolution; public policy; family policy; regulation; New Zealand; Maori; History; Demography, Anthropology; Psychology; Sociology; Biology; Economics; evolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 B49 D19 J12 J18 K00 R29 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-03
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