This session brings together several comparative perspectives on the analysis of recent institutional changes in family policies of western, southern, and central/east European countries under the influence of long-term trends related to various cultural tendencies and employment strategies on one hand, and the more recent impact of economic austerity on the other. Specific topics to be considered include theoretical re-consideration of family policy as a broader agency on the part of individuals, family, state, economy and society, the impact of EU accession on the recently reformed national and local family policies in the new member states, a possible reversal to path-dependency in Spanish family policy under economic austerity, and the causal effects of “modernized family lifestyles” and public opinion on government policies in OECD countries. The main aim of the session is to develop a better understanding of various ways in which austerity can reinforce or undermine national policy goals and agendas in unexpected ways and how all this relates to the overall transformation of the post-industrial welfare states in Europe.