"The fairytale story of family diversity"
December 2012

Families have always taken innumerable shapes and sizes in our society. Most fairytales for example, tell stories of non-traditional families, like Little Red Riding Hood, the child of a lone parent family, or Cinderella’s blended family. The list goes on and on. And while we have all grown up knowing different kinds of family, not all are treated equally.

This is what prompted Spain’s Union of Family Associations, UNAF, to host its Congress of Families on the theme "The fairytale story of family diversity" in Madrid on 12 to 14 December. The conference looked at the multiple family models that are now an inescapable fact of life.

The Congress was an opportunity to share knowledge and ideas on different family models like lone parent families; differences in abilities; age and sexual orientation; multiculturalism; blended families; adoption and foster care; social exclusion; and psychological development in new family structures.

Transitions between family models during a person’s life are increasingly frequent, reflecting entrenched gender inequalities in the family, greater freedom of self-determination and longer life expectancies.

One case study given illustrates a problem affecting many crisis-hit households: the growing number of families forced to move in and live with grandparents.

The conference also highlighted the need for a better balance between working life and family life. Investing in measures to improve work-family life balance has a positive impact on job creation, well-being, gender equality, and prevention of poverty and social exclusion.

Another conclusion reached by the Congress was that while "reasonable" equality for families has been achieved in justice and education, inequalities remain and may even be getting worse in extreme cases since the onset of the crisis, which effectively "fosters family diversity". 

Traditional, lone parent, blended, adoptive, LGBT ... what makes a family is not the set-up but the warmth and quality of its members’ relations.

Programme  |  Read more

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Microcredit in France: a plan B for those the banks don’t want?
November 2012

The economic and financial crisis of recent years has plunged growing numbers into financial difficulties. One in ten people have less than 700 euros a month to live on.

Personal microcredit is a loan that can help individuals who cannot get standard forms of credit to get through temporary difficulties and avoid social exclusion, such as by finding a job.

Around 80% of microcredit loans are for a job or car, and 10% for housing. A typical microcredit loan is for 300 to 3000 euros at a fixed interest rate of between 2 and 5%. The French state guarantees 50% of the loan amount. One thing that sets microcredit apart from traditional credit or a consumer loan is the follow-up and support provided by social welfare groups like the local UDAFs who vet and forward applications to a bank. UNAF has plans to develop information tools to enable local UDAFs to proactively provide social follow-up and support for microcredit.

UNAF and the URAF for the Alsace region staged a national day conference on microcredit in Strasbourg on 21 November.  

Jean-Bernard Audureau, Chair of COFACE’s Consumers Working Group, moderated the panel on the European aspects and experience-sharing with microcredit in other countries, including Spain.

Françoise Van Zeebroeck talked about what CREDAL does in Belgium, while Patrick Kosman gave a run-down on Secours Catholique’s activities in Italy and Britain.

COFACE has already stressed the value of microcredit in its policy position on financial inclusion and debt prevention. Microcredit practiced in the right conditions with proper social follow-up and appropriate loan terms can help tackle social exclusion and tide families over financial or other straits.

The conference programme is available here

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Childcare: still much to do says LDF Belgium
November 2012

Parents who cannot find a nursery place for their children are forced into making unpalatable decisions in life. Stopping work, long morning and evening treks, hiring babysitters or calling on grandparents are solutions many parents have to fall back on, show the findings of a Ligue des Familles survey.

Childcare is a key issue on several counts: it is a mainstay of policies for work-life balance, gender equality, education, employment and employability, quality of life and the fight against social exclusion and poverty.  It is also part of a comprehensive policy to support parenthood: parenting makes demands in time, financial resources and community-based services, and all are equally essential. But Belgium’s French-speaking Ligue des Familles association reports that community-based services are what parents most lack today.  

COFACE was at the Ligue des Familles’ Autumn University on 13 November which brought together a range of experts and stakeholders in childcare matters to discuss the shortage of childcare places, foster debate and put forward the Ligue’s own four-point list of demands:  

1. Create 4,000 new quality places a year
2.  Cut the cost of childcare for parents
3. Encourage the Office National de l’Enfance child welfare agency to support stakeholders
4. Halt the fragmentation of responsibilities by creating a Ministry for Children (French-speaking Belgium has 9 ministers with responsibility for children).

These four priorities are based on the alarming figures thrown up by parent surveys done by the Ligue des Familles from late 2011 to early 2012: 73% of parents with children under 3 struggle to find childcare; 25% of women have had to cut their working hours because they cannot find childcare; 12% of parents have stopped work to care for their children; and 15% of parents cannot afford to pay for childcare.

National – and especially EU - policy objectives have so far focused on the coverage rate of childcare services, but that is not enough.  They must also meet quality standards, fulfil a learning and educational remit, and address families’ specific circumstances and needs (children with disabilities, unsocial hours jobs, lone parents, migrant families, etc.).

A high level of public investment is therefore called for both to increase the supply of places but also for childcare worker and qualified staff training.

The OECD’s Dominic Richardson has also noted that states only start to invest seriously in children’s education from age 12 upwards, but investment from the youngest age is essential to improve educational performance.

COFACE is backing the Ligue des Familles campaign and will be publishing a policy position on childcare shortly.

Find out more about the event here