Why is Knowledge About Families Important to Policy Makers in Latin America?

Abstract

The article analyses the importance of the studies on family composition and organization to the social policymaking in Latin America. Different ways of assessing families in social programs are discussed leading to the conclusion, that knowledge about family patterns is important as the relations among family members may generate positive or negative externalities to the society, that family characteristics may be used to focus policies, that families may be used to design, execute and control public programs and that social policies may affect and be affected by different patterns of family organization.

Note: paper available in Spanish only

JEL Classification: J12, J69