Origins of family policy: Prerequisites or diffusion

Various instruments to protect families with children from the consequences of industrialization have been introduced in modernizing nation-states at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. The global adoption of family policies, such as maternity leave, family allowances, and childcare facilities, followed a wide array of patterns. After being introduced by pioneering countries, some programs spread rapidly throughout Europe, some reached the peripheries of colonial empires and others were only introduced by the newly established nation-states populating world society after decolonization. We provide the first analysis of the disparate origins and spread of family policies, identifying the networks that facilitate their diffusion.