European family policy analysed

1. Marriage and Family Policy in the West –
where do we go from here?
Advocacy and capacity building
July 1, 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
by Josef Gundacker

2. The family policy goals of the Member States’ focus on
three dimensions:
1. Child wellbeing
2. Gender equality
3. Balancing work and family life.
“Towards a Framework for Assessing Family Policies in the EU”, OECD Social,
Employment and Migration Working Papers, No. 88, OECD Publishing.
Lohmann, H. et al.
The European Union views families as a
source of economic prosperity

3. The family is a dynamic form of human coexistence
(according the European family report)
Many family forms and lifestyles are neither
dynamic, nor supportive, nor responsible
What is the core problem of the contemporary
family?
Lack of material wellbeing, lack of education
and health

4. What are the primary needs of a child, a teenager,
a woman, a man, a mother or a father?
Child - Parents
Teenager – Parents
Woman – Man
Man – Woman

5. Article 1
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with
reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

6. Family is not only the problem
it is also the solution!

7. Why did the Wright Brother´s
manage to fly?
They understood the principle
of Aerodynamics and applied it
Why are human beings not capable to build
peaceful relationships?
Because we violate the principle of give and take

8. When we value Family
the purpose of Marriage
treat the Parents with dignity
When we look and think differently – we act differently
“The most precious philosophy is to live for the sake of others”
Dr. Sun Myung Moon (1920 – 2012) founder of UPF and Unification Movement

9. The EU membership states need to
1. look at families as subject, as partner - not as
object and dependent.
2. pay attention to the role and responsibility of
parents and think how to create a framework and
healthy environment for families
3. to make “Family mainstreaming” the core policy
Rekommandation

10. Thank you for
your attention
The family is the school of love, of peace and prosperity