The emergence of modern social policy is connected with the expansion of industrial society in the western countries at the end of 19th and beginning of 20th centuries. The industrial society destroyed the traditional solidarity network and replaced it with philanthropy, mutuality and unionism. Social policy was, in its beginnings, directed to risk insurance for the employees and their families. In the first decades of this century government support was introduced for dependent family members like children, windows and the elderly. Nowadays we distinguish between traditional and modern systems of family social policy. The distinction depends on the importance of the father as the breadwinner, transferring social payments (as opposed to other family members, particularly the mother). There is an ongoing process of defining the new policy in Croatia in regard to the family. There are open debates in public. It is difficult to believe, however, that tradition will prevail, because the model of the working mother being the second breadwinner is already very common.

U ovom članku analizira se evolucija i priroda socijalne politike prema obitelji u europskim zemljama. Autor intervenciju države u privatnu sferu obitelji, u smislu materijalne i druge potpore, dovodi u vezu s nastankom industrijskog društva i raspadom mreže tradicionalne porodične solidarnosti. U razvijenim zemljama socijalna davanja za djecu i obitelj danas su vrlo razvijena. Ipak, neki proklamirani ciljevi socijalne politike prema obitelji nisu postignuti, prije svega oni pronatalitetni. U posljednjem dijelu članka autor upozorava na neke aspekte socijalne politike prema obitelji u Hrvatskoj, te njene pravce razvoja.