Die Bedeutung der Familien und der Familienpolitik fuer die Entwicklung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft

Family policy usually is regarded as a section of social policy, aiming at the protection and support of families by improving their living conditions. According to newly developed economic understanding and following the jurisdiction of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany) the necessity of family policy is based on the positive externalities, emerging from the performance of family tasks. These externalities are a necessary presupposition for the development of societies and therefore should be appreciated and honored. The author describes the tasks of families and the externalities connected with their performance, estimates the contribution of family work to the building of human capital and illustrates the importance of family as well as of family policy especially in view of the decline and aging of population, economic growth, increasing welfare and the necessity of flexibility to meet the requirements of globalization.