| Abstract [eng] |
Family Strengthening Law of the Republic of Lithuania (2017) specifies that, in order to strengthen family policy, continuous monitoring and evaluation of the formation and implementation of family policy is necessary. This function is assigned to the National Family Council, an institution accountable to the Parliament that annually reports on the state of families and the implementation of family policy. Currently, the evaluation of family policy in Lithuania is carried out in a fragmented manner, focusing on individual policy areas. The reports of the Council consistently highlight the lack of monitoring indicators and instruments that would allow for the evaluation of the effectiveness of family policy measures. Furthermore, scholarly literature more and more suggests the usefulness of an index for this purpose, but Lithuania has not yet developed a coherent evaluation system covering the entire family policy field. The problem addressed in this study is the lack of a family policy evaluation system in Lithuania that would cover the complexity of family policy. The aim of the study is to analyze scholarly articles on family policy and well-being indices, and to identify areas of family policy that could form an index and reveal the indicators of such index. The object of the study is the areas, indicators, and methodological aspects of the family policy index, on the basis of which a family policy index adapted for the Lithuanian context could be created. This study is conducted through the systematic analysis of the scholarly literature (sources from the Web of Science database). Analysis is also based on the Family Strengthening Law, other national strategic documents, and existing family policy evaluation tools. The review of the notion of family policy in the study revealed that the field of family policy is complex and is linked to various areas of social policy, while the analysis of family policy evaluation carried out in Lithuania revealed a lack of policy evaluation tools. Based on systematic analysis, seven areas were identified for measuring family policy and well-being. Regarding family policy, the most significant areas were education, work-life balance, public expenditure and financial support. As for assessment of family well-being, the most evident areas were economic well-being, health, subjective family well-being and relationships, housing and the environment. The next step analysis revealed that, when coordinating these areas with the tools that partly cover family policy indicators applied in Lithuania, the proposed family policy index model should additionally include areas related to social support and services, as well as fertility. The results of the study provide a basis for the development of a consistent monitoring and evaluation system for the family policy index in Lithuania, while also contributing to the expansion of scholarly literature. The proposed index model can be useful for social policymakers in a comprehensive assessment of the family policy situation and plans for more targeted measures. |
