Notes on the family in Portuguese social policy

Abstract

This report was part of a comparative study on family obligations in the European Community and has three main objectives. In the first place, to analyse the way in which family responsibilities are defined in different areas of Portuguese social policy (in national insurance and social assistance benefits, in family law). Secondly, to describe briefly the benefits and support services that exist in the present system of social protection. Thirdly, to provide some understanding of the present balance between the family and the state, the formal and the informal support networks, private and public provision, in the «welfare society» in Portugal.