The benefits of family-oriented policies
The benefits of family-oriented policies
An Expert Group Meeting on “Good Practices in Family Policy Making”, will be held in New York from 15 to 17 May 2012.
This expert Group Meeting is entitled “Good Practices in Family Policy Making: Family Policy Development, Monitoring and Implementation: Lessons Learnt”. The main issues to be discussed will be family policy making, work-family balance, recent trends in family poverty and social exclusion, anti-poverty family-focused policies, as well as social integration and intergenerational solidarity. The meeting is convened as part of preparations for the twentieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2014.
Strategies promoting social integration and intergenerational solidarity are critical for families and societies. They promote social cohesion and shared responsibility and contribute to developing positive relationships across age groups and have been shown to strengthen the quality of ties between family members. In times of economic crises, intergenerational ties grow in importance, with family members shielding one another from the consequences of the loss of employment or housing.
Flexible working arrangements result in better health outcomes for parents. At a company level, they have also been associated with employee productivity, organizational commitment, retention, moral, job satisfaction and reductions in absenteeism. Investments in early childhood education and care are another form of support for parents with young children to help them remain engaged in paid work. In addition, other policy objectives such as gender equality and fair distribution of family responsibilities between both parents help achieve work-life balance for all family members.
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