Using the COFACE Child Compass as a starting point, this European expert meeting focused on the features of large families and the challenges they experience in Europe today, taking stock of the situation in different countries and collecting good practices. The reflections were based on the premise that all children must have equal opportunities and be treated equally regardless of their family settings, and modern 21st-century family support systems should be able to factor in this diversity of needs without discrimination. This European expert meeting was held in hybrid format (offline/online) for COFACE members, local participants in Slovenia, and EU stakeholders working on similar goals.
The objectives of this expert meeting
- Connect the Slovenian and European realities on families;
- Build on the findings of the 2020 COFACE expert meeting on single parent families and large families;
- Collection of information on changing patterns in large families of today, including blended and recomposed families;
- Consulting national/regional/local level of the civil society on innovative practices in supports to large families;
- Encourage knowledge transfer across EU countries on promoting the rights of families and children;
- Develop common actions and positions, to mainstream the family perspective in EU policy discussions on the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, the EU child guarantee, the transposition of the EU Work-life balance directive, the EU Child Rights strategy and more.
About the hosts
COFACE Families Europe is a European civil society network representing families (all types, without discrimination), through its 50+ organisations across 23 countries, shaping EU policy and legislation which impacts families: www.coface-eu.org. We monitor a wide range of policies which impact the lives of families and children including worklife balance, disability, education, consumer policy, migration and digitalisation.
The Family Initiative is an association for a family-friendly society that connects primarily parents and other people who consider for family’s needs. We have combined knowledge and influence since 1998 to make Slovenia as family-friendly state. We monitor what the government does or not in the field of family policy and inform the wider community about families and their needs. We also work with government to improve family policy on national level. The Family Initiative is a full member of COFACE.
Programme
Check out the full programme in English
Working languages
English and Slovenian
Meeting report
Presentations
Interrelated well-being of children and their families by Dominic Richardson, Chief, Social and Economic policy, UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti
Families with more children in the education system by Anton Meden PhD, a father of five and former president of Association of Parents’ Council Working Groups of Slovenia, Slovenia
Family-friendly policies in Trentino by Luciano Mafer, Director, Agenzia per la Famiglia, Tento, Italy
Large families: demographic relevance and targeted measures by Balázs Molnár, Vice-President of Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families, Hungary