earticle

영어

This study is dedicated to examining how the public sphere for French family protection policy and social security reform was formed in the first half of the 20th century. To that end, it focuses on three areas: development of French family protection policy during that period, employer paternalism that affected the policy and actions of family movement groups, and labor unions and left-wing party’s positions and demands regarding the policy. A sense of crisis about decreasing population, which had emerged at the turn of the 20th century, became all the more aggravated since the World WarⅠ. In response, employer based on paternalism began to provide their workers with family allowance. In the 1920’s, conservative political groups improved the family policy through an array of legislations designed for supporting families with multiple children. In 1932, a law that made family allowance mandatory was enacted, and in 1939, a law known as the Family Code was introduced. The development of family policy between the two World Wars was affected by the National Alliance for Population Growth, and other family advocacy groups based on catholic social movement. Until the 1920’s, labor unions and left wing party were inactive in promoting family protection policy. They thought that family allowance led to a cut in laborers’ wages and could serve as a tool for employers to control the working class. During the Great Depression in the 1930’s, however, as the living condition of the working class worsened, they began to demand the government to promote more active family protection policy. In short, the ongoing discussions and initiatives for family protection by different groups ― National Alliance for Population Growth, a diversity of family movement groups, labor unions, and conservative politicians and left wing party― led to the formation of the public sphere for the birth of social security system after the World WarⅡ.