Here you will see news from Europe, from civil society, from research, highlighting emerging trends from local to international level relevant for families of today.
The Social Package launched by the European Commission on 6 May included the unveiling of the European Union’s first Anti-Poverty Strategy.
The Family Federation of Finland Väestöliitto, a COFACE member organisation, has presented the “Baby Fund”, a research-based family policy proposal that is unique at the international level.
For about 15 years, I was active at the National Disability Observatory established by the Ministry of Welfare, and I must say that I found it very frustrating to work on the “restructuring plan” that never came into effect in those 15 years.
Families are often judged before they are supported. When difficulties arise, the question is rarely what does this family need? but rather what went wrong? Child–family separation is still too often treated as an inevitable solution, when in many cases it is the outcome of poverty, isolation, migration or lack of accessible support.
COFACE Families Europe submitted its response to the European Commission open consultation on enhancing the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities up to 2030. Among our priorities, we call for the adoption of a strong family dimension in the new phase of the strategy through concrete actions; the enhancement of the monitoring and implementation mechanisms for disability policies and legislations that have a family dimension.
The European Network for Binational-Bicultural Couples and Families (ENB) has sent an Open Letter to Members of European Parliament. The letter highlighs urgent and recurring issues, and calls for action.
On 18 November 2025, the French National Assembly voted in favour of creating a new birth leave as part of the Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) for 2026. The measure marks an important step forward for families in France and a major advocacy success for UNAF (Union nationale des associations familiales), a member organisation of COFACE Families Europe, which has been calling for this reform for more than ten years.
The Spanish member organisation FAMS (Federación de Asociaciones de Madres Solteras) has published a new study examining the relationship between single-parenthood and gender-based violence, with a specific focus on women-led single-parent families in Spain.
The COFACE Disability Platform for the rights of persons with disabilities and their families has carried out a review of EU policies in the fields of employment and work-life balance, to assess whether they provide for targeted measures in support to working parents with disabilities. We had the pleasure of discussing the results of the review with Kamil Goungor from the European Network for Independent Living.
