Latin America has the world’s highest out-of-wedlock births, high rates of lone motherhood, and high rates of child poverty. What -if anything-have governments done over the past two decades to promote gender-equal family policies and reduce child poverty? This presentation outlines social changes in families in the context of high socio-economic inequalities, highlighting the (understudied) role of fathers. It will then focus on a conceptual and empirical overview of policy responses, and discuss both potential causes as well as implications for the current COVID crisis and its aftermath