Policy Priorities for Family Resilience

This report presents policy priorities for the enhancement of family resilience. It, first, provides a conceptual framework for how we should understand the functions of policy in regard to improving family resilience. Second, it reviews the current national and EU-level policy landscape. Third, it proposes a set of policy principles in three key areas that are considered essential to improve family resilience: better income support for families with children, closing the childcare gap and comprehensive family support services. The report is based on a wide-ranging comparative analysis of relevant data from Eurostat, OECD Family Database, Leave Network and MISSOC, a review of three key intiatives from the EU, the Work-Life Balance Directive, European Child Guarantee and European Care Strategy, and a review of relevant policies in the six rEUsilience countries. It is also informed by a 'road-testing' exercise which was undertaken through the Policy Lab, where family and policy experts developed and reviewed policy proposals. The report seeks to provide guidance especially when reforming and introducing policies with respect to family resilience. The report emphasises the need for a holistic and comprehensive approach to empower families especially during the transitions over the lifecourse. Consequently, the report interprets the support from the state as a package consisting of income support, employment-related parenting leaves, childcare and family-oriented services. The policy priorities are informed by the aforementioned analyses which highlighted a range of 'incompletions' in existing policies in, first, recognising the changing needs of families as children grow older and, second, the additional support needs of particular families (especially low-income families, lone-parent families and families coping with illness or disability on the part of a child). The report offers 15 principles as a guide to undertake policy reform. These principles, which are generally similar across the three fields, relate to coverage (endorsing a universal approach), adequacy (in terms of amount and sufficiency of income and other forms of support), inclusion (recognition of additional needs) and the absence of gaps in provision.