Family

Each woman/man must have the real opportunity of choosing how to organise his/her "life path” her-/himself

  • as a function of the needs of his/her family
  • not subordinated to Employment Policy
  • with access to own social rights

THE FAMILY is and remains the basic cell of society
Respect for the values of families must be one of the values recognized by the EU

According to several recent surveys, family is one of the primary values of Europeans (in both existing and new Member States), ranking well above employment.

EU must impel a true European family policy based on the family unit, its needs and also its contributions, not limited to its only economic or demographic input.

Can solidarity between generations be granted if all is done to break up the family unit by exclusively providing for a third party, not belonging to the family, to take charge of dependent relatives? Isn’t family entitled to be recognised as life environment on its own, generating richness, able to care for its dependent members, and therefore to benefit from policies that allow it to play its part as basic unit of society to the full? The aim of the EU is for 60% of women to be employed. But what of the 40% who do not take part to the labour market? Are there any indicators on those who are among those 40%? On the impact on society of their family work? On their needs and wants?

F.E.F.A.F. requests

  • support to families to allow them to be active players in the evolution and well-being of society: moral and material help, access to information and learning, and especially to large families
  • a true impetus and harmonisation of national family, social and economic policies based on the real needs of families and of each of their members
  • the possibility of a fluctuating life path for women as well as for men, according to their needs and those of each of the family members
  • valuing remunerated “part-time work for family reasons” and access to appropriate social rights
  • the collection of targeted data, also accounting for the social and cultural aspects of life path choices and their impact on carers.