Conceptualizing family well-being

Abstract

This chapter focuses on family well-being as a goal of family policy. Family policy is defined as all actions of governments that affect families, directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, intentionally or not. Three frameworks are presented together with their underlying assumptions and concepts for assessing the extent to which such policies meet the family well-being criterion: family systems theory, exchange and choice theories, and family stress theory. The application of such frameworks allows for a more holistic and contextual approach to the conceptualization of family well-being and the implications of policies that governments enact that affect families.