The New Politics of Family Policy in Hungary, Poland and Romania Since the EU Accession: Domestic Vs. International Influences

This paper will draw on the re-conceptualization of path-dependence vs. path-departure to explain the adaptation of the Hungarian, Polish and Romanian family policy regimes to the new context of European governance since 2004. We examine successes and failures of various attempts to reform and/or expand family and child-oriented programs at the national and local government levels in conjunction with population policies, economic austerity, and in relation to European directives on gender equality, social inclusion and children’s welfare. We argue that regardless of the economic context, the EU accession helped empower new types of policy entrepreneurs, NGOs, and various conservative-liberal political coalitions to challenge traditional patterns of state paternalism and maternalism. Nonetheless, the actual policy results of this challenge, manifested most vividly in less costly national programs and at the local government level have been highly contingent on the preexisting institutions and historical legacies.