The ‘first demographic transition’, which lasted from the late 19th and throughout most of the 20th century in the western world, was characterised by low fertility, low mortality and greater life expectancy, resulting in low population growth and ageing. The ‘second demographic transition’, which began in the 1960s and was still continuing at the turn of the century, entailed a marked rise in divorce, unmarried cohabitation, births outside marriage and lone parenthood. This de-institutionalisation of family life is associated with major shifts in value systems away from collective responsibility and duties towards a post-material conception of individual rights and personal autonomy (Lesthaeghe, 1995; Coleman and Chandola, 1999). Although the sequence of these two demographic transitions places the slowing down of population growth and population ageing before family de-institutionalisation, the processes involved are closely interlocked and mutually reinforcing. The decline in fertility and, more especially, the reduction in the time devoted to childbearing and childrearing made women less dependent on the bonds of formal marriage for their livelihood. In turn, lower levels of commitment to marriage and its instability were conducive to a fall in fertility rates and family size. Greater life expectancy and population ageing called into question relationships between the generations, leading to a rethinking of the ‘generational contract’ (Attias-Donfut and Arber, 2000, p 1). Changing family forms and structures have raised important policy dilemmas for governments concerned about the threat posed by family breakdown for social order but often reluctant to intervene in what can be considered as strictly private matters.

This chapter analyses the process of family change and its consequences. Like Chapter Two, it begins by examining the problems of defining and conceptualising change from a comparative perspective. It then charts changes in family life, tracking them over time, during the late 20th century, and space, within the European Union (EU), including the countries that became members in 2004. As with population decline and ageing, the impact of different waves of membership, and particularly of enlargement to the east, is relevant to an understanding of the development, or otherwise, of a European family model. The final section examines the challenges posed by changing family forms for policy actors, with reference to wider social, economic and political contexts.