Description
Book SynopsisThis monograph is the first attempt in Bulgarian historiography (and still one of the very few endeavors in Europe) to investigate the origins of state policy toward population and the family in Eastern Europe. The work reconstructs the evolution of state legislation in the field of social policy toward the family in Bulgaria between the two World Wars, colored by concerns about the national good and demographic considerations. It sets the laws regarding family welfare in their framework of a distinctively cultural, historical and political discourse to follow the motives behind the legislative initiatives.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgement Transliteration table of Bulgarian Cyrillic List of Tables Introduction 1. Outlining the problem 2. Methodology 3. A historical outline of the period under investigation 4. Social and demographic structure of interwar Bulgaria 5. A history of Bulgarian legislation - an outline PART I: REGENERATING A DEFEATED NATION Chapter 1: Building-up a Maternal and Child Healthcare 1. An 'orange' start: the BANU's Bill for People's Health (1923) 2. The Democratic Alliance and the 1929 Law for People's Health 3. Fertility decrease and the rediscovery of state welfare Chapter 2: Public Assistance 1. State protection of the family: the privileged child 2. Legislation on family allowances in Bulgaria 3. the disadvantaged child: The Law for Children Born Outside Marriage and their Avowal, and for Adoption, November 1940 PART II: TOWARDS PRONATALISM Chapter 3: Demography, media representations and parliamentary discourse 1. The 'Discovery' of birth decline 2. Demographers on the 'collapsing' demographic trend 3. Mass media responses to fertility decline 4. Early parliamentary alarm about birth decline Chapter 4: Activities 'from below': the League of Mnogodetni, child-rich parents 1. Historical Overview 2. Organisation 3. Combating poverty Chapter 5: Petŭr Gabrovski and the Law for Large, Mnogodetni, Bulgarian Families 1. Ideological background 2. The Law for Large, Mnogodetni Bulgarian Families 3. The bachelor's tax controversy 4. The legal aftermath Conclusions Index Bibliography
