Family law reform: An overlooked catalyst of economic growth

On this year’s International Day of Families, we explore a critical issue: the sidelining of family-oriented policies in mainstream economic discussions. Despite their transformative potential, family laws governing marriage, divorce, property rights, inheritance, and household decision-making often remain overlooked. These laws define personal relationships and set the legal boundaries of women’s agency, mobility, and access to economic opportunity. Our recent brief “Changing Laws, Changing Lives: Family Law Reform as a Catalyst for Economic Prosperity” highlights how reforming these laws can boost labor force participation, reduce poverty, and expand economic opportunities for women.

Family law plays a crucial role in shaping economic outcomes by governing key aspects of personal and economic life. Their absence in economic policy discussions limits the potential they have to stimulate economic growth.
 

Global Progress through Reforming Family Laws

The brief reveals that in 1970, only 37 economies had family laws providing legal equality for men and women according to the Women, Business and the Law index. Today, that number has more than doubled to 85, resulting in an additional 600 million women gaining equal rights in marriage, divorce, inheritance, and household decision-making over the past 5 decades, opening doors to education, jobs, and financial independence (Figure 1).
 

Figure 1: Family Law Reforms Increase Women’s Economic Opportunities

How Family Law Shapes Economic Outcomes

The economic implications of family law reform unfold along three reinforcing pathways:

1. Increasing women’s bargaining power: Legal recognition of women as equal partners in marriage and household-related decisions enhances their ability to pursue education, influence resource allocation, and participate in the labor market. In countries that equalized marital property rights or divorce laws, women see gains in employment and decision-making autonomy.
2. Allocating control over resources: Equal rights to inherit land or own property boost women’s financial independence and access to credit. Legal reforms in inheritance and asset ownership have been linked to higher school enrollment for girls and increased investments in land and household well-being.
3. Shifting social norms: Legal reforms can alter societal expectations about women’s roles, leading to broader behavioral and economic shifts.
   

Persistent Challenges

Despite clear economic benefits, 105 economies still maintain family laws that grant women fewer rights than men, reinforcing legal and economic disparities (Figure 2).
 

Figure 2: Family Law Restrictions Persist in 105 Economies

Many of these laws are rooted in colonial-era legal codes that codified patriarchal norms. Restrictions include laws granting husbands sole authority over household decisions or barring women from inheriting property equally.

Even in regions that have made substantial progress, reforms can be slow or partial. Laws touching on personal or cultural norms often face resistance. Yet the experience of the past five decades shows that change is possible and transformative(Figure 3).
 

Figure 3: Progress in Family Law Reform Has Varied Considerably by Region

Four Takeaways from Women, Business and the Law Data on Family Law:

1. In 1970, just 34% of the world’s female population lived in economies with equal family laws; by 2023, that figure had increased to 46% representing over half a billion women who have gained new economic opportunities.
2. Over the past five decades, more than 500 family law reforms have been enacted globally. Among these, 48 economies have enacted sweeping reforms, such as comprehensive civil code revisions, marital property regime changes, and inheritance reforms, providing women with equality on all family-related data points measured by the Women, Business and the Law index.
3. Family law remains one of the stickiest areas to reform and over time, progress in family law reform has become less frequent compared to labor and non-discrimination law or violence against women law. This may partially be explained by the fact that family law around the world is often perceived as a private matter and deeply connected to religious, cultural, and societal norms which are difficult to change.
4. Discriminatory family laws often stem from colonial legacy. For example, restrictions on a married woman’s ability to work, choose where to live, and open a bank account can be traced back to the French Code Napoléon of 1804 and the UK’s common law. They heavily influenced legal systems across Europe, East Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Reforms adopted by countries within and across regions can inform others where gaps persist.
   

Prioritizing Family Law in Economic Reform Agendas

Incorporating family law reform into strategies for sustainable economic growth can help unlock broader development gains. Policymakers should prioritize legal reviews of family codes, integrate economic evidence to reframe family law as a core driver of development, and invest in enforcement mechanisms and public awareness efforts to ensure laws translate into real change.

Family law is not just a private matter. It is an economic one. Equitable legal frameworks governing the family are fundamental to unlocking the economic potential of half the world’s population.

As we mark 30 years since the Beijing Platform for Action and prepare for the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family, it’s time to bring family law reform into the center of the economic agenda. By removing legal barriers that restrict women’s rights and agency, these reforms enable women to engage more fully in economic activities, increase their workforce participation, and contribute to overall prosperity. The next generation of growth, resilience, and inclusion may very well begin at home.

Source : World Bank