Modellfamilier

Modellfamilier is a concept used in social research and policy modeling to refer to archetypal or representative household types. The term denotes a small set of standardized family configurations that are used as reference groups to analyze and simulate how policies affect different families.

In practice, modellfamilier are defined by a combination of attributes such as family type (for example, couple with children, single parent), number of children, ages, employment status, income level, housing situation, and sometimes regional or migration background. These attributes are chosen to capture the main variations in households that are relevant for a given policy area, such as taxation, benefits, childcare, or housing.

The main purpose of using modellfamilier is to simplify complex real-world diversity into a manageable set of scenarios for microsimulation, distributional analysis, and communication with decision makers. They allow researchers to estimate policy effects on different kinds of families and to compare outcomes across the reference groups.

Modellfamilier are typically constructed from empirical data, often drawing on national household surveys, and may be updated over time to reflect demographic and economic changes. They are used in both public sector analyses and academic research, particularly in welfare state and tax policy studies.

Critics note that modellfamilier can oversimplify real-life heterogeneity and may embed assumptions that influence outcomes. Therefore, they are usually complemented with sensitivity analyses and validated against observed data. See also: household types, microsimulation, policy modeling.