In her paper "Family Policies and Birth Rates: Evidence and Challenges for European Countries" the author Dr. Sonja Blum explores demographic trends and family support policies in Europe, particularly in Germany, Sweden, Italy and Czech Republic. As European countries are facing dramatic changes in their age structure, effective state intervention becomes an ever pressing issue. However, as scientific assessments of many policy tools have proven controversial, measures improving the work-life balance of women and cash incentives show promising results on the long run.