Reinforcing social welfare and intervention in Cuba responds to the social effects of the economic crisis and structural transformations, rather than aiming at alleviating poverty. This paper examines social intervention practices in the light of the family norms underlying it: what "good family" are they advocating? How do social assistance and intervention address weakened family structures, when the contradiction sharpens between individualization and equality, on the one hand, and need for family and solidarity, on the other? We shall see that social assistance in Cuba has moved beyond a time of principles, to a pragmatic time of social issues containment, which places a heavy burden on the family.
social welfare; family; care; old age