Volume 2 of Family Life and Family Policies in Europe is a comparative study of family change in Europe and its dependency on social policy regimes. The authors explore family discourse, family law, single parents, gender relations, the 'new fathers', divorce, and abortion within the framework of national policies vis-à-vis the family.This volume, in conjunction with Volume 1 (which presents a standardized framework for analysing family development and policies across ten European countries), makes a significant contribution to research in the field of comparative interdisciplinary family science. Together they aim at a better understanding of issues relevant to the European agenda for social policies towards the family.