Communiqué, issue 3, 2004
Articles
- Foundation findings place family policies back on the agenda
- Social policy a priority for Dutch EU Presidency
- Monitoring industrial change in Europe: future prospects
- Quality of life in Europe: theme of the next information campaign
- Increasing number of lay-offs in the first quarter of 2004
- Trends and drivers of change in the European railway sector
- Benchmarking the quality of industrial relations in the public sector
- Changing attitudes toward financial participation
- The Foundation’s ‘open-door’ policy
Previous issues of Communiqué
The Foundation puts forward the case for a greater policy focus on the family, on the basis of recent research findings that show high levels of satisfaction with the quality of family life across the European Union.
Europeans are very satisfied with the quality of their family life, according to findings from two recent Foundation surveys on quality of life and family issues in the enlarged EU of 25. Having family support is a key element in a multi-dimensional concept of quality of life across the EU25, ranked third behind ‘good health’ and ‘sufficient income’ in terms of the most important factors.
Family still the cornerstone of European society
Family policy in Europe faces key challenges resulting from rapid economic, social, cultural and political change. The family – its structure, domestic arrangements, and sources of support – is a crucial component in a successful economic and social policy, argues the Foundation in its report on Fertility and family issues in an enlarged Europe. The report puts the spotlight on the importance of family support for quality of life, as perceived by Europeans across 25 Member States.
Care for the elderly a family matter
With today’s increased life expectancy and lower fertility rates, there is a growing gap between the increasing numbers of elderly people who need care and the declining number of family members available to provide it. The research shows that at present around 25% of adults in the new EU Member States are involved in regular but informal care of others, compared with around 21% of people in the former EU15.
However, given the ageing of the population, the number of persons in need of care is expected to grow in the near future. The report shows that 80% of people in the new EU Member States advocate extended family care in the future, with a corresponding figure of 59% in the EU15.
When asked who should pay for the care of elderly parents, people in the new EU Member States are divided between state financing and sharing costs with families, while half the people in the former EU15 favour state financing.
Good sense of inter-generational solidarity
Solidarity between generations is found to be quite strong, counteracting often-repeated claims in the public arena of a ‘war between the generations’. Some 85% of people in the new EU Member States and the former EU15 claim that deep conflicts between the generations do not exist. Almost half of the citizens of the former EU15 declare racial and ethnic tensions to be the most important societal dimensions, whereas more than half of the population in the new EU Member States identify tensions between rich and poor as the main dividing line in society.
Different perceptions of family policy
According to the findings, people in the former EU15 consider that social policy directed at families with children should focus on reducing unemployment and raising employment rates. They also feel that flexible working hours and available childcare provisions are important aspects of social policy. Citizens in the new Member States, however, have different priorities: they indicate that government initiatives aimed at increasing child-related income and reducing child-related costs are of paramount importance in family policies.