German Family Policy in the Context of Solving Demographic Problems

The demographic change in Germany brings about diverse challenges and burdens. Family policy has the potential to play a special, formative role in influencing and shaping demographic development. This raises the question of how family policy is determined within its current demographic context. To answer it, this article lays out the fundamental goals, schemes and responsibilities of present-day family policy in Germany a striking feature of which is that its task is cross-sectional in nature. The example of old-age provisions shows how far-reaching family policy schemes are, and how they are gaining in importance given the current demographic context.