Changes in Family Policies since 2010: Country Overview Portugal

Abstract

Historically, and well into the 20th century, Portugal's pathway is linked to the male breadwinner model and to a rudimentary and familialistic welfare state underlining women's role as primary caregivers and low state support for families. Family policies after the transition to democracy (1974) rejected unsupported familialism and introduced an explicit focus on state responsibilities to support a gender-equality oriented dual-earner model, leading to a gradual but steady increase in entitlements to family benefits and paid leave schemes, in public and publicly-subsidized services for young children and in gender equality incentives (Wall, 2011). Family policies shifted toward a "mixed" welfare state model focusing on family care supported by services and benefits and underlining a specific "solidarity" welfare mix in which different actors - families, public, private profit and non-profit institutions - take on responsibility jointly (Wall, Samitca and Correia, 2013).