Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to provide a context for the other chapters of this book – to give a policy background for detailed analysis of Nordic child welfare social work practices. Social work is not practised in a societal vacuum. In order to understand social work practices, it is useful to know the main features of family law and family structures in the five countries as well as the general economic and social situation of families with children. Furthermore, family policies – which we understand here to include policies on childhood – form the context where social work is practised; social work is faced with the positive and negative outcomes of social security and childcare policies. To what extent is this societal and policy context similar in the five Nordic countries, to what extent can we say that the starting points for social work with children and families are the same all over the Nordic region?

The chapter starts with a brief description of the development and main features of Nordic family laws. In family legislation we include here also laws that are focused specifically on children and childhood. This is followed by an overview of family structures and of the economic labour market and social conditions of families with children in the five Nordic countries. A profile of the main outlines of family policies in the countries is provided as well, covering social security as well as childcare policies. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the basic situation of Nordic families with children, taking the existence of rather developed family policies into account, focusing on the similarities and dissimilarities between the five countries.

Family law in the Nordic countries

Legislation reflects prevailing normative understandings of a society and this goes also for family law. On the other hand, family legislation also structures family life, making certain family forms and lifestyles easier to realise than others. As in most nations, in the Nordic countries the 20th century was marked by radical changes in the understanding of a family.

Already during the 1910s and 1920s, the Nordic countries had joined forces in organising a special family law committee, which led all five countries to revise their family legislation.