EUROPEAN OBSERVATORY ON FAMILY POLICY
What is the European Observatory on Family Policy
The European Observatory on Family Policy is a joint research programme of COFACE Families Europe and the Centre for Family Studies of ODISEE University of Applied Sciences launched in 2022. The Observatory aims to serve as a platform for the observation, analysis, and dissemination of evidence on family policy and other social concerns directly relevant to family well-being across the European Union. The Observatory is implemented as a partnership between COFACE Families Europe and Odisee’s Centre for Family Studies. COFACE Families Europe offers the programme its extensive knowledge on EU policies and the realities of families across Europe, while the Centre for Family Studies provides its expertise on practice-based research from the perspective of families and its research networks in Belgium and internationally. The partnership is conceived to bring together the respective strengths and expertise on family policy and family life to better meet its monitoring and analytical goals.
Read more about the Observatory here.
2025 Factsheet on the Childcare gap in the European Union
The ‘childcare gap’ refers to a critical period following the birth of a child, during which new parents have exhausted their well-paid parental leave but have not yet become eligible to enrol their newborn in state-supported full-time formal daycare. Unable to access either well-paid leave or an affordable full-time facility, families are forced to rely on their own resources.
This factsheet provides an overview of the current situation across the European Union, with a particular focus on the duration of the coverage gap in different countries, the specific features of daycare entitlements, and the associated parental costs.
Read the full factsheet here
2024 Report of the European Observatory on Family Policy: Towards greater family policy integration across Europe
Families with young children have complex necessities in the period before the start of compulsory schooling. Often, these needs cannot be reduced to educational, healthcare or caregiving demands alone.
Successful fulfillment of these needs requires a joint effort of different governmental organizations to build ties and form functioning networks of cooperation over a long period of time. This comparative report aims to investigate possible responses to the multisectoral needs of households by providing an overview of the current alignment and coordination between complementary services and policy areas in four European countries (Finland, Germany, Italy, and Poland) and the Belgian region of Flanders.
Read the full report here and watch our research webinar presenting the findings below.
Core partners
COFACE Families Europe and the Odisee University are the core partners of the European Observatory on Family Policy.
For further questions and inquiries contact Martino Serapioni, Research Programme Coordinator
European Observatory on Family Policy : mserapioni@coface-eu.org.