Description: This research program examines issues related to family policy from the perspective of lifetime investment in human capital based on in-depth empirical and analytical evidence of the strengths and weaknesses of current policies as well as evidence supporting alternative strategies. The IRPP's research in this area focuses on recent developments across the country in policies that are geared toward children. Difficulties in defining families connect to policy debates as to how governments should treat families and what programs they should provide so as to increase the well-being of family members. In recent years, such debates have considered topics such as parental leave, income splitting and child care. These debates engage controversial questions about the role of the state, the best use of scarce resources and intergenerational equity. In ways often left implicit, these debates connect to family law because they take definitions of family relationships for granted. Legal rules identifying family relationships and establishing their effects form the background for government programs and interact crucially with them. Discussion of the appropriate role of government in relation to families thus requires a clear sense of the state of the law, both past developments and the current regimes. With an eye on these policy debates, this study aims to provide such an understanding of the past and present state of family law.