551 © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 M. R. Sanders, A. Morawska (eds.), Handbook of Parenting and Child Development Across the Lifespan, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94598-9_24 Policies and Services Afecting Parenting Kylie Burke, Divna Haslam, and Keny Butler Introduction Federal and state governments invest signifcant time and effort into the development of policy and funding of services designed to improve the lives of citizens and society. How these efforts impact one of the most important tasks of people and communities, raising children (parenting), is a critical and largely unanswered question. Many policies that affect parents and their capacity to be available and responsive to their children have arisen from the need to address other issues affecting society, namely, the labor force market. The need to ensure an appropriate, sustainable and productive workforce has led to shifts in pol- icy, law and work practices that have had fow on effects for parents and children. Examples include antidiscrimination laws, childcare subsi- dies, fexible work arrangements, provisions for leave from and return to work (i.e., parental leave, annual recreation leave, personal and carers leave), hours of work, and other employment conditions. Other policies have come from soci- etal changes and demand for or interest in issues such as changes in social structure (e.g., the increase in single-parent households), equality and the need to address poverty, mental health problems, substance abuse, and child maltreatment. Some policies do however directly target par- enting. These policies are designed to promote parent–child bonding and to make it easier for parents to afford the day-to-day expenses associ- ated with raising children. This chapter explores the types of policies and services that either directly or indirectly affect the capacity of par- ents to care for and promote the development of their children. Theoretical Background The Changing Shape of the Family Across the world the structure and nature of fam- ilies are changing. While life expectancy has risen, birth rates have declined over recent decades. The age women have their frst child is increasing and women are having fewer children and for many, none at all, resulting in reductions in household size (OECD, 2011). Delays in becoming parents are related to greater access to contraception, which has provided more control over timing and occurrence of births, and a push to become established in the labor and housing markets prior to parenthood. Large increases in educational attainment and participation in the workforce by women have also occurred, in part K. Burke (*) · D. Haslam · K. Butler Parenting and Family Support Centre, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia e-mail: k.burke1@uq.edu.au; d.haslam@uq.edu.au; k.butler4@uq.edu.au