Changes in Patterns of Social Policy – Family Quality of Life and Policy Implementation

Despite attempts to harmonize social policies, EU countries differ to a great extent in the support they provide. Recent economic and demographic trends clearly influence the transformation of social policy, with strong impact on the protection systems. In recent years we are witnessing the “radicalization” of political discourse by marginalization of the social support component for macro-economic concerns, particularly financial. In the context of austerity programs imposed by the financial crisis, measuring the well-being of families is becoming ever more important. This research aims to analyze the configuration of European family policies. How are the social policies influenced by macroeconomic and demographic developments in recent years at the European level but also in Romania? How has the implementation of family policies changed in Europe and in Romania in the context of recent developments? The research method used is secondary analysis on several Eurostat indicators.