The challenges posed for societies as a result of population decline and ageing, the spread of de-institutionalised family forms, and changes in the generational contract, working patterns and the family–employment relationship have reopened debates about the role the state can and should play in family life. A question that many governments in western Europe were addressing at the turn of the 21st century was how far to proceed with legislation formalising alternative family living arrangements. Although a major driving force for welfare reform in the 1990s in the 15 member states of the European Union (EU) was the need to meet the criteria for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and reduce unemployment, politicians were under growing pressure to respond to public demand for improvements in the quality of life both at work and in the home. The reaction of most governments to EMU was welfare retrenchment and the overhaul of benefits and services, often involving cutbacks in provision for families (Rostgaard and Fridberg, 1998). At the same time, the predicted negative consequences of population ageing were prompting pre-emptive action to ensure that the long-term financial and care needs of older people could be met (Walker and Naegele, 1999). Growing concern about impending labour and skills shortages, in conjunction with welfare entrenchment, was stimulating the development of schemes to shift the recipients of welfare off benefits and into work through more active employment policies (European Commission, 2002d). Coming at the same time as renewed emphasis on equality of opportunity, incentives to encourage women to become economically active were sharpening questions about how to deal with the care needs of younger and older dependants when women were no longer available as primary carers (Rubery et al, 1999; Carling et al, 2002; Mooney et al, 2002). In the candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which joined the Union in 2004, the social reform process was being driven by the need to adopt the EU's social acquis and meet the requirements for EMU in a context where transition had brought far-reaching structural change to the economy, necessitating costly adaptations to welfare systems and labour markets (Ferge, 1997; Berglund et al, 1998; Elster et al, 1998; Pascall and Manning, 2000; Rys, 2001). The debates surrounding welfare reform in the early 21st century provide a further indication of the relative, although not always explicit, importance of family matters on national policy agendas.