This paper is the second in a series of publications from the project ”Social Policy and Social Exclusion in the Baltic Countries”. The project is funded by the Research Council and Council of Universities of Norway, through the Cooperation Programme for Central and Eastern Europe (Programme for Research and Higher Education). The two main institutions involved in the project are Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science in Oslo and Unit of Family Studies at the University of Tartu. The present report, however, has been written mostly by Fafo researchers. In addition, Zane Loza (Latvian freelance researcher) has written about the structure of the income maintenance system in Latvia, she also assisted us in connection with our field trip to Latvia.