All across Europe, COFACE members continuously work to contribute to positive outcomes for diverse types of families in a changing society, including single-parent households. Organisations such as La Ligue des Familles and Single Parents Foundation have both recently and respectively put a spotlight on concrete ways to support and empower single parents in Europe from Belgium to Hungary.
During this European round table, the COFACE Disability platform for the rights of persons with disabilities and their families (founded in 1998) outlined the needs of family carers today based on its European Charter for Family Carers. Different stakeholders from the EU institutions and civil society reacted from their different perspectives. Read the key findings here
In most European countries, there is a lack of adequate community-based services for persons with care needs. In many cases, this gap is filled by family members who frequently face the challenge of balancing their own needs with the demands of caregiving. However invaluable this role may be, non-professional care provided by family members should never replace the duty of national public authorities to provide high-quality, accessible and affordable support and care services to ensure people’s full participation in society.
We are pleased to welcome and introduce COFACE’s newest members joining us from Northern Macedonia, Georgia, and Malta to contribute to positive outcomes for families in a changing society.
Belgian COFACE member, Ligue des familles, recently published its family barometer report which provides a wealth of information on the state and evolution of families in Belgium. The barometer is published every two years, giving families a crucial chance to have their voices heard. The 2024 edition reveals the scale of some of the difficulties faced by families, as well as some problems identified as early as 2015 that remain persistent.
COFACE member, the Association of German Family Organisations (AGF), was founded on the 25th of March 1954. 70 years later, on the 25th of march, AGF members looked back on its history and discussed the current challenges in family policy. The constituent meeting of AGF took place in 1954 in Königswinter, Germany, and laid the foundations for coordinated and committed representation of family interests at a national level and international work.
Earlier this year, Sven Iversen, COFACE Vice President and Managing Director of Association of German Family Organisations (AGF) and Elena Gußmann, the project coordinator of the National Family Forum, presented the final publication “Support structures for families – objectives, access, services” to the Chairwoman of the ‘Family Affairs Committee’ in the Bundestag, Ulrike Bahr.
COFACE’s Lithuanian member, the National Assembly of Active Mothers (NAMS), recently engaged in a public dialogue alongside other NGOs, social services, and professionals to address the critical issue of mental health within families, with a particular focus on supporting mothers.
The Family Cabinet, spearheaded by COFACE member “Gezinsbond,” and the Kenniscentrum Gezinswetenschappen – hogeschool Odisee invite individuals and organisations to share their experiences, stories, and ideas to enhance government support for families.
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.This comparative report aims to investigate possible responses to 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.
On 27th September 2023, COFACE intervened at a conference organised by the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union on the topic of social protection of families.The Spanish Ministry of Social Rights and 2030 Agenda and Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations brought together a wide range of Spanish, European and international speakers to look at existing data on family models and explored different policy solutions.
In a recent presentation to the European Banking Authority’s Banking Stakeholder Group, several consumers organisations brought to light a pressing concern – the enduring issue of persistently low savings interest rates for household deposits in the Eurozone. This financial predicament, coupled with surging inflation and rising banking costs, is exerting great pressure on families.
This breakfast byte will focus on a campaign of Isadora Duncan which highlights how rising energy prices are affecting families in Spain and across Europe, and the need to launch public debates on access to energy as a basic citizenship right.
