More than one child in a European family is already above the average
The European society is ageing. The problem is obvious: People get older nowadays and women do not get many children in the industrialized world. The keyword demographic change describes the future-scenario of a Europe, in which old people dominate the society. This development is no secret. But still, not much is being changed in the politics. The decision to have children is dependend on many different factors. Modern family policy needs to create the best environment in this regard. “We can make Europe a place for families. We just have to face the problems and react accordingly,” Céline Simonin from the Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (coface) states. During the European Citizens’ Forum she represents the voice of the family in Europe.
The expert in family policy explains: “To have a Europe, in which young families decide to have children, we need to stress three basic elements in the social policies – financial security, services and time.” These principles are simple, but since these elements root in different fields of social and economic policy, it is a long struggle for a family-friendly Europe.
In the first place, the families need to have financial security. Only by earning enough money to feed a family, people can afford to have a family. This has an incredible impact on the family planning of young people. Unfortunately, there is no job-security for young people at the moment. “15% of the European Youth is unemployed. This is a problem which needs to be dealt with”, knows Vladimira Drabalova from the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). “It is not only a question of good or bad education. Sometimes highly educated graduates cannot find a job after University, because personal skills mismatch the need of the employers.” The second basic element is the social service. The society needs to arrange appropriate quality childcare, a pension system and elderly care to support families. To have children should mean that women need to quit their own career. It is only a question of the appropriate framework given from the state. Jillian van Turnhout, the Vice-President of the EESC, emphasizes “The European Union needs to give young women the chance to play an active role in the society. Not only because of economic reasons, also because many young women want to aspire.” As third element, it has to be considered, that familiy care needs a certain amount of time. Only working conditions that allow mothers and fathers to work besides the parenting could be called family-friendly. A social family policy demands flexible working times and arragmenents for parental leave. To implement this on the labour-market really is a challenge.
“Unfortunately it is not natural for states to provide a family policy that takes these three key elements into consideration. In Europe, the quality of family care differs a lot. Some states like the Nordic Countries, Belgium and France are quite good in family policy and could serve a model. But some – like for example here in Poland – still stick to traditional patterns. Young families do not get the full support. Women have to decide between children and career. The man staying at home raising the children and sharing resopnsibility between the partners is not an option in many countries. This has to be changed in future Europe.” During the two days of the European Citizens’ Forum in Wroclaw, Céline Simonin promotes a modern adequate family policy for Europe. She hopes that this Forum helps to produce more awareness of this topic in Europe. Although family policy is a national competence, the EU plays an important role to push the topic forward. “The family is affecting everybody’s life. It is a topic that is really underrepresented in the public discussion. I am very happy that this conference, puts social affairs on the top of the agenda. I hope that the Europe of tomorrow will be a good place in the world to have children. If not – we cannot stand the challenge of the demographic change.”
By Anna-Lena Alfter
