The political and societal transition in Central and Eastern Europe as of the
beginning of the 1990s brought about drastic transformation in family life. The data show
significant changes in trends affecting families, such as accelerated postponement in
family formation (trends towards marriage and births at later years in life); decline of
entry into marriage and spread of non-marital cohabitation; abrupt drop in births and rise
in extra-marital births mostly within the non-marital unions. Single-person families
increased relatively to all families and the average size of families and households
dropped significantly. Population ageing caused a rise in the share of old-age families and
widowed persons. Massive international migration emerged. The 1990s saw also a rise in
unknown issues of health. The initial spread HIV/AIDS is hardly any surprise, and it calls
for a new culture of family planning in a region where induced abortions were a major
means of contraception. The swift spread of sexually-transmitted and other contagious
diseases such as tuberculosis were unanticipated.
Family changes were the consequence of a swift transition away from a
totalitarian regime to a democratic society. The transition affected all areas of society:
political, economic, social, and cultural. This powerful transformation caused radical
changes in social norms and values and in family norms in particular. Social anomie and
uncertainty affected decision-making in the family unit. The ambiguous societal situation
brought about the rise of diverse coping strategies for family formation. One way of
coping was by postponing crucial life events, refusal of irreversible events such as births,
and replacement of hard to reverse events with reversible, such as substitute a non-marital
cohabitation for marriage. Thus new family forms emerged and diffused rapidly in a
changing ideational environment. Efforts for a family well-being included increased
economic activity, rise in education, and rise in migration.
While some manage to cope, others have to rely on society. This is particularly
apparent for single persons, single parents, families with children and older people. The
transition swept away the social policy that was established during the socialist times.
The construction and perfection of a new social policy that would correspond to the new
society needed time. Hence social policy and family policy in particular was often slow
in responding to the needs of the people. It was hampered by the necessity for
parliaments to adopt numerous laws in a quickly changing society, as well as by the
economic difficulties. This paper describes recent trends affecting families with their causes and
consequences. Along with region-specific trends, it studies also the extent to which
global trends affecting families exercise their impact in countries in the region. The paper
gives an outline of a wide range of problematic issues and concerns that will be helpful to
policy-makers in their efforts towards further improvements in family policies.