Blog Post D. Suica: International Day of Families

Today we are celebrating United Nations International Day of Families, its 30^th anniversary in fact. This is a moment to reflect on the global efforts to support families, and subsequently our societies, in fulfilling their potential.

This year’s theme sees a focus on the severe impacts of climate change on families across the world. Extreme weather events and disruption to agricultural production are already leading to population displacement, increased economic disadvantage and poverty.

We decision-makers have a moral obligation to act and to do whatever we can to lessen these impacts. We must seek to alleviate the immediate concerns facing families in need and to prepare for the larger societal changes that will follow, including in places that can seem far removed from the effects of climate change.

Families play an incredibly important role in instilling the values and ideals of protecting our planet that we all share, through the power of intergenerational dialogue that is found most frequently amongst families. 

Supporting families is a key part of our response to demographic changes across the European Union. 

The EU’s Joint Research Centre focuses on supporting evidence-based policymaking. That is why I have made it a point to commission research on demography ahead of each of the initiatives that I have presented in this regard. Our research found that in EU Member States, one in three households are now made up of single persons. This trend has its own effect on our climate through more inefficient use of energy and greater per capita emissions.

This is just one of many reasons why supporting the aspirations and ambitions of our citizens to have families is one of the key areas of focus in the demography toolbox which I launched last year. This is also a crucial aspect of the democratic environment that we cherish so much in the EU.

It is incumbent upon us as policy makers to develop and implement family friendly policies, for example in housing, work-life balance, and childcare, but also to develop other policies that support families in reducing their carbon footprints.

These include developing energy-efficient homes, better and more efficient transport options, and increasing low-carbon, affordable methods of food production.

The International Day of Families provides us with an opportunity to re-emphasise the importance of families and the European Commission’s commitment to continue supporting initiatives that recognise this. One important element is that of increasing the opportunities for direct engagement with our citizens. Our European Citizen Panels are a prime example of this: their intergenerational character contributes to building a democracy fit for the future. After all, democracy begins at home. 

And because we foster this democratic approach, it is not our task to tell anyone how to lives their lives. But it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone can realise their aspirations. Everyone should have the freedom to build the kind of family they wish to have, and our ambition is to support people’s ability to make these choices!