Abstract
The package of support for families with children in the USA is not terribly effective. The model of targeted social assistance is also the one that has been advocated by the World Bank in middle and low income countries. It is failing poor children. This paper uses comparisons of child benefit packages in the European Union and Central and Eastern European and Confederation of Independent States (CEE/CIS) countries derived using model family methods. It rehearses the arguments in favour of universal family benefits — the norm in the EU. It calls for a new approach in the CEE/CIS and USA.