The Education and Family Department explores education and family-related issues primarily from a microeconomic perspective. One key question is the extent to which it is possible to fully develop the human potential of a country’s economy. In the field of education, the department investigates the processes of skills acquisition and the development of educational inequalities, with early education, school services, and tertiary education as main areas of interest. One key area of family research is the reconciliation of work and family life for parents with children below compulsory school age and young school children. The department also analyzes the effects of education- and family-policy reforms on families and children.