This themed section focuses on parenting support as a social policy phenomenon within and across the five Nordic Countries of Europe: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. As in other parts of Europe, parenting support has received increased attention in social policy making in the Nordic region. In reviewing developments in the Nordic countries, the themed section seeks to identify and discuss similarities and differences between parenting support policies in the North versus other parts of Europe. It considers whether the aims and the provision of parenting support in the Nordic countries differ significantly from those identified in studies of parenting support policies in other European countries.

Much of the social science debate on parenting support policies is based on observations of parenting support policies in countries, which represent different welfare regimes (Esping-Andersen, Reference Esping-Andersen1990, Reference Esping-Andersen2015) to the Nordic countries, such as UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The Nordic countries are seen to represent a particular (Nordic) welfare state model (Vidge, Reference Vidge2013), that are characterised by universalism and a strong welfare state (Kildal and Kuhnle, Reference Kildal and Kuhnle2005) with a long history of active intervention in the family in order to modify both gender and generational relations (Sejersted, Reference Sejersted2013). Thus, what we seek to understand and address in this themed section is – when we focus on the policy field of parenting support – whether there is a specific approach of the Nordic countries to these kinds of policies, or do their aims and purposes appear to be quite similar to policy developments in other parts of Europe?

In recent years, researchers from many European countries have contributed to a debate about the spotlighting on parenting in and through policies (see i.e. Ramaekers and Suissa, Reference Ramaekers and Suissa2012; Daly, Reference Daly2013; Faircloth et al., Reference Faircloth, Hoffman and Layne2013; Lee et al., Reference Lee, Bristow, Faircloth and Macvarish2014; Daly and Bray, Reference Daly and Bray2015; Knijn and Hopman, Reference Knijn and Hopman2015; Lundqvist, Reference Lundqvist2015; Martin, Reference Martin2015; Betz et al., Reference Betz, Honig and Ostner2016). With this specific focus, we want to contribute to the contemporary debate on parenting support and ask if there is a specific Nordic Model framing parenting support in the North of Europe. Therefore, the main objective of this themed section is to critically focus on changes in family policies, particularly changes related to parenting support and guidance in the five Nordic countries: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

In 2015, Social Policy and Society published a themed section on Parenting Support in European Countries, which presented research findings from the ‘PolChi’-project – an international collaboration between researchers in France, Germany, the Netherlands and UK (Daly, Reference Daly2015a). It was this themed section in particular which inspired us to consider whether there are specific characteristics of parenting support in the Nordic countries. The articles in this themed section emphasise the 1990s as a turning point in family policy and investigate relevant developments in the parenting support policies across the five countries between the 1990s and the present day. They make similar observations about increasing political attention on parents and their parenting practices. The main line of thinking, adopted by the articles included in the themed section, is as follows:

• • Are the national parenting programmes and parenting support policies of the Nordic countries expressions of the welfare state retreating from its responsibility to compensate for inequality, blaming parents, policing parents (or mothers) into adapting middle class attitudes and practices (e.g. Gillies, Reference Gillies2011; Lee et al., Reference Lee, Bristow, Faircloth and Macvarish2014)?

• • On the other hand, does the Nordic Welfare Model provide a different frame of reference providing some new insights to the contemporary academic discussion of parenting support policies and increased parenting related anxiety in Europe?

Our contributions are intended to raise a debate on these issues from a social science perspective, since research on parenting support in the Nordic context still is dominated by contributions from medical and psychological studies (see Review Article in this themed section: Sundsbø, Reference Sundsbø2018a). Our focus is to study whether the recent emphasis on parenting support and guidance in the Nordic countries implies a continuum of traditions of strong welfare state control, or rather is it an indication of something new: for example, welfare state retreatment through responsibilisation of parents as well as individualisation of social problems? We ask:

• • How are parenting support policies implemented in the Nordic countries, and what does this development imply in the Nordic welfare state framework?

An issue that we draw particular attention to is how the new policies of investing in parenting support change the role of, and expectations towards, parents in the Nordic countries. How do parenting support and advice provided by institutions financed by the state affect how parents behave in interactions with their children, and who has agency in defining ‘good’ parenting norms and practices (Furedi, Reference Furedi2008; Hennum, Reference Hennum2010)? Gender roles and the influence of ideals such as ‘intensive mothering’ (Hays, Reference Hays1996) are discussed in the light of Nordic countries’ strong gender-equality policy strategies.

Despite the common framework of Nordic countries, there are also different emphases between the countries, which are discussed and empirically highlighted in the articles included in the themed section. Admittedly, there is a long way to go, and too much knowledge we must acquire, before we can conclude on the actual effects and consequences of these developments on Nordic societies, and their potential influence on how welfare production is reformed (Ellingsæter and Leira, Reference Ellingsæter and Leira2004; Richter and Andresen, Reference Richter and Andresen2012).

Close investigations of the policies of parenting support in the Nordic countries are a good starting point and it is informative to see how parenting support policies are explained and justified politically. How is the policy, which seeks to increase parents’ engagement and ability to contribute to the ‘better’ development of their children, presented and how does the intervention gain support and credibility across political borders and at different levels of government systems? What are the problematic definitions which policies bring about, and how are these to be solved (Bacchi, Reference Bacchi2009)?

Another issue we address is the relationship between policy and practical implementation of interventions (Daly, Reference Daly2015b). What is actually offered to parents, and do the premises described in the policy also apply when the service is provided? An important aspect we analyse is the characterisation of parenting support services in the Nordic/Scandinavian context as universal, and therefore distinct to parenting support policies elsewhere (Bråten and Sønsterudbråten, Reference Bråten and Sønsterudbråten2016; Eng et al., Reference Eng, Ertesvåg, Frønes and Kjøbli2017). Does this idea of a universal approach also refer to practice – are all parents, without any assessment of ‘risk’ offered parenting support? Further, are all parents offered the same kind of support?

The articles acknowledge similarities between northern and continental European parenting support practices and discourses, but also highlight differences due to the tradition of strong welfare state regulations. However, reformulation of family services – particularly, new emphasis on parenting support – as well as explicit cutbacks in family services in many Nordic countries urge us to question this and imagine a (post)welfare context. A context where individuals are expected to contribute more to, and carry more of the responsibility for, the production of welfare than in previous decades (Ervik and Kildal, Reference Ervik, Kildal, Nilssen, Kildal and Ervik2015).

In this themed section, we have included six contributions which provide new insights into how parenting support policies are understood and conceptualised (most of them also include the implementation process) in the five Nordic countries. The article from Iceland discusses how the ideology of intensive mothering has been gaining support and is, at least partially, advocated by some maternity care service providers in the country (Gíslason and Símonardóttir, Reference Gíslason and Símonardóttir2018). This ideology has also become more pronounced in the general discourse on parenting in recent years, the authors Gíslason and Símonardóttir state. What is striking and problematic about this is the discrepancy between the ideology of intensive mothering on the one hand, and the efforts and achievements in drawing men, particularly fathers, into traditional female dominated areas such as caregiving of infants and young children in order to establish gender equality.

In the article from Norway, Sundsbø describes the implementation of parenting support services, tracing their way from the policy to the operational level – down to what is actually offered to parents, and to whom (which social groups of parents) (Sundsbø, Reference Sundsbø2018b). Based on her insights from a case study in Norway's second largest city, she finds that parenting support services are not provided ‘universally’, as the policy suggests. And by looking closer, she also states that the policy does not actually suggest that parenting support shall be provided for all parents, even though it is proclaimed and promoted as ‘universal’.

We have two articles from Sweden in this Themed Section, which complement each other very well, as they analyse previous (Littmarck, Lind and Sandin, Reference Littmarck, Lind and Sandin2018) and contemporary (Widding, Reference Widding2018) strategies of justifying parenting support policies. Littmarck and colleagues' article investigates how the notion of support for parents was adapted to different political ideas, ideologies and ways of defining the relationship between state, family and children from the 1960s until the 2000s. The finding, that support for parents has been advocated by those ranging from the political left to the conservatives, is indeed astonishing. Widding's (Reference Widding2018) article analyses and problematises core assumptions in Sweden's National Strategy for Developing Parenting Support (from 2009), which is central for how parenting support in Sweden is understood and implemented today. A central theme in this article is the role the idea of ‘parental determinism’ plays in contemporary Swedish social policy, thus the imagination of parents and parenting practices as a threat or risk to children's development. In her criticism of the framing of parenting support as a health-promoting initiative, Widding notes: ‘The call for parents to scrutinise, constantly evaluate and reflect upon how to improve their parenting skills, in a society that already has high demands on self-governance and performance, can probably make the most stable parent uncertain and put under pressure’ (Reference Widding2018: 7).

Finland is represented with an article from Sihvonen (Reference Sihvonen2018), which explores how parents are positioned (through looking at how key attributes of good parenting – responsibility and competence – are discussed) within family support projects (n = 310). The article enriches contemporary discussions regarding the relationship between parenting-related anxiety and the increasing number of parenting-related experts. It states that the analysis of projects clarifies the role of the parenting-related experts, but also provides a nuanced view of the position of parents.

The contribution from Denmark, authored by Dannesboe, Bach, Kjær and Palludan (Reference Dannesboe, Bach, Kjær and Palludan2018), discusses the issue of parental responsibilisation, though with the critical remark that responsibilisation of parents does not necessarily indicate that the state withdraws from its responsibility of caring or governing for the sake of ‘positive’ child development. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions, the article shows how deeply involved the state is in shaping parents’ approach to their children. It analyses how ECEC staff offer guidance on how to be a responsible parent who cooperates in the right ways, and on how to cultivate children's development at home, and how this guidance is appreciated by the parents. However, it also reveals how this in turns gives parents an increased responsibility. A central finding is that parents are not only held responsible for their children's lives at home, but also for ensuring that ECEC staff have the best possible opportunity to support children's development at ECEC institutions.

The articles in this themed section afford an opportunity to turn the spotlight on how parenting support policies are implemented in the Nordic welfare state framework. Based on rich material from five different Nordic countries they not only deepen our knowledge of parenting support in this particular context, but also enrich the wider discussions and understanding of parenting support research in the broader international field.