Women’s employment largely depends on childcare support. This essay explores childcare support in Central and Eastern Europe and in the former Yugoslav states, and reveals how childcare support and expectations changed during history, and how these changes influenced women’s participation in the labour market. Via a narrative literature review, we show commonalities and differences in the historical traditions before state socialism started in the different countries. Then we provide evidence on certain unification patterns in the region with the notable exception of Yugoslavia. While in the first phase of socialism women were encouraged and also forced to partake in paid employment without much childcare support, the second phase of state socialism was characterized by increasing family support, paid maternity leave, and growing number of childcare institutions. The regime change drastically altered the societies and economies of the region, and a fundamental shift in ideology and practice moved the societies into three different directions: explicit familism, implicit familism, and de-familization. While differences exist within the region, women’s full-time paid employment is still the norm in most countries.