July 2003, No. 47

Deadline for contributions: 31.10..2003
					
Vienna NGO Committee on the Family
*Brunngasse 12/2, A-3100 St. Pölten, Austria
Phone: 43-2742-352718, Fax: 43-1-352718-5
e-mail: famcom.vienna@utanet.at
Web: http://www.viennafamilycommittee.org
For contributions to ‘Families International’:
e-mail: ematt@vki.or.at

				From the Desk of the Chairperson:

Dear Readers of Families International,

As many of you are already aware, the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family organised an International Seminar from May 25th to May 27th 2003 at the Vienna International Centre of the United Nations in Vienna, with the co-operation and support of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection, entitled:

Compatibility of Family and Business Life

to celebrate the 9th international Day for Families and to highlight the preparations for the 10th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family (IYF) in 2004. Over 90 participants from 19 countries in 4 continents registered for the seminar.

This special issue of Families International is devoted entirely to a: Report on the International Seminar The next issue will return to its usual format of addressing the issues, information exchange and contents, which you are accustomed to find in Families International and to which you make such a valuable contribution, by submitting material for inclusion in this quarterly bulletin. 

The programme of the seminar is also enclosed to guide you through the proceedings. The majority of the presentations are reproduced in full, while one makes use of the headings of a power-point presentation, which today is for many, a standard method of presentation. We have endeavoured to include a summary of the power-point presentation as well. The e-mail addresses of the presenters’ are included, so that you can contact them directly, with your comments and questions.

Compatibility of
Family and
Business Life

We hope that this report will increase the awareness of issues relating to families, by taking the debate on this particular issue, which is vital both to families and to the fabric of society, a step beyond its present position, by the input of professionals from academia, representatives of civil society organisations and government institutions, as well as focusing on the preparations for the observance of the 10th Anniversary of IYF in 2004.

With kind regards,

Peter Crowley
(Chairperson)

From The Desk Of The Editors
Dear reader, we want to thank you for your contributions that make up the many issues of Families International. We cannot publish this Bulletin without your help. 
You are invited to collaborate and to send us your contributions as well as your suggestions as to topics for future issues. 

Eva Matt and Winston Sims

Table of Contents

FROM THE DESK OF THE CHAIRPERSON	1

9th INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR - PROGRAMME	3

Opening Statement by the Chairperson
Peter Crowley	4

Ursula haubner: Compatibility of Family and 
Business Life	6

working paper- family roundtable	8
	
Uwe Reiner-Kolouch: Compatibility of Family and Business Life	13

Prof. RON PrinZ : The Impact of Working Parents	17

Prof. Masud Hoghughi: Parenting and 
Work-life Balance	20

Summary and Outlook to 2004	27

                           In Preparation of the Tenth Anniversary of the International Year of the Family 2004
9th International Seminar
Vienna NGO Committee on the Family
in Cooperation with the
Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Security
and Generations
Compatibility of Family and Business Life
      Sunday, May 25th 2003 to Tuesday, May 27th 2003
UNITED NATIONS
Vienna International Centre (VIC)
1400 Vienna
              Austria

                                                                                                          

PROGRAMME
Sunday May25th, 2003:
19:30 	Reception sponsored by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Security and Generations Theatermuseum, Palais Lobkowitz, Lobkowitzplatz 2, 1010 Vienna 
Monday May26th, 2003
9:00	Registration 
10:00	Peter Crowley Chairperson of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, Welcome and Opening Statement
	Ursula Haubner, State Secretary,  Federal Ministry for Social Security and Generations 
		(requested)
	Nicole Julienne Elisha, Permanent Mission of Benin to the United Nations, New York

10.30	Chair: Peter Crowley and Rosa-Anna Weiss (Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Security and Generations)
	Prof. Dr. André Habisch, University of Eichstätt-Ingoldstadt, Germany
Compatibility of Family and Business Life as a Challenge to Today’s Family Politics
Questions from the floor and general discussion
11.30  Coffee Break
12.00	DI Uwe Reiner-Kolouch, Herold Business Data, Austria
		Compatibility as viewed from the Business Company
Questions from the floor and general  discussion
13:00	Lunch Break
14:30	Chair: Dr. Michael Schwarz and Rosa-Anna Weiss
Prof. Ron Prince, University of South Carolina, U.S.A.
The Benefit of Children as a Yardstick for Measures to Increase the Compatibility of Family and Business Life
Questions from the floor and general discussion
	15:30	Working Groups
	16:30	Reports by Working Groups to the Pleanary
	17:00	End of Session	
	19:30	Vienna City Hall (Ratskeller) Reception by the City of Vienna for Participants of the Seminar

Tuesday May 27th, 2003

10:00	Chair: Peter Crowley and Günter Danhel
Irene Slama, Office of the State Secretary, Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Security and 
Generations
Possibilities to Increase the Compatibility of Family and Business Life – Example: Austria
Questions from the floor and general discussion
11.00  Coffee Break
11:30	Prof. Masud Hogughi, University of Northumbria, Newcastle and Hull, England
		Multifaceted Concept of Parenting – Work-Life Balance
Questions from the floor and general discussion
12:30	Lunch Break
	14:00	Working Groups
	15:30	Report of Working Groups to the Plenary 
16:15	Peter Crowley  Chairperson of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, 
	Summary and Outlook to 2004
17:00	End of Seminar

Special Issue: Report on the International Seminar

OPENING STATEMENT

Chairperson Peter Crowley

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, I would like to welcome you most sincerely, to our two day International Seminar entitled: Compatibility of Family and Business Life

We meet each year in May to celebrate the International Day of Families which takes place on May 15th.  I would like to read a brief message which the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, issued on this occasion, the 9th International Day for Families. The statement goes as follows:

 “In 1994, the international community observed the International Year of the Family, an initiative aimed at increasing awareness of family issues and improving the institutional capability of nations to tackle serious family-related problems with comprehensive policies.  Governments, civil society groups and others are now preparing to observe the tenth anniversary of the Year, and are hoping to use the occasion to sustain momentum in an area of vital importance for human progress.

	Putting families closer to the centre of the public policy process will require greater political commitment.  The issues involved are at the heart of the social welfare agenda:  changes in family structures, demographic ageing, the rise of migration, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and globalisation. I hope leaders will comprehend these links and give these questions the attention and resources they merit.

	It is heartening that preparations for the tenth anniversary commemoration have already witnessed a multitude of national initiatives and the creation of institutional arrangements to deal with family issues. Non-governmental organizations have been especially active and creative, and they will continue to play a crucial role.  As we look ahead to the launch of the tenth anniversary in December 2003 at United Nations Headquarters, let us all reaffirm our commitment to improving the well-being of families throughout the world.”
End of the Statement.

May I underline the reference to the creation of institutional arrangements to deal with family issues, in the wide spectrum the Secretary-General has addressed, as well as the mention of the active, creative and crucial role of NGOs. Our seminar here today is to highlight the preparations for the 10th Anniversary in 2004.

Ladies and Gentlemen, a special word of thanks is due to the members of our organising sub-committee, Dr. Michael Schwarz, Mr Günter Danhel and Ms Christine Leopold without whose endless hours of honorary endeavours we would not be meeting here today, with such distinguished participants. Of course honorary work needs support, especially financial support, to realise such a project, so I would like to sincerely express the gratitude of the Committee to the Austrian Federal Government, in particular to the Federal Ministry of Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection, which yet again has so generously supported our work and given us ample encouragement in our endeavours, which is also a very important aspect of honorary work.

We are considering this morning, the question of the compatibility or incompatibility of family and business life. Depending on whether you are an optimist or pessimist, you will start off from the standpoint of compatibility or incompatibility. Kofi Annan likes to say that both the optimists and pessimists get it wrong but that the optimists sleep better at night.

If we look closely at the data on: 

demographic changes and the rapidly decreasing birth rates, not only in so called developing countries 
gender equality or inequality
discrimination or support of families, in the business world and at government policy level, in some countries,  it really is difficult to regard oneself  as an optimist.

But we have not come here today to complain or lament, but to face the facts and endeavour to do something positive about the situation and to aim at setting up a structure that will foster sustainable development long term in the interest of families.

The Demographic Development:

Those of you familiar with the data of the demographic development, know that the magic number for the last few years was a total fertility rate of 2,1. This was the level-off formula or replacement birth rate per woman in the population. That meant that two parents have two children, and after dying, are replaced by their own children. The zero point 1 refers to children who die before their own age of reproduction. Because of the rapidly falling birth rate over the last number of years, the United Nations, in its World Population Prospects for 2002, has now set this magic rate at 1.85 children per woman as the point to which the human population is tending in this century. 

In the 1960s the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) was 2.6 children per woman in Europe and now it is at 1,3 just as it is in Japan.  In the 1960s the TFR in Less Developed Countries was 6.0 and today it is under 3.0 children per woman. So it’s a world-wide phenomenon. 

The United Nations projects that before 2050, 80% of the world population will have below-replacement levels.  Most would agree that the world population could not continue to grow at the rate it did, especially as many of those born were born into poverty. The concern is not the drop in fertility rates per se, but the grade and speed of this development and the capacity of society to deal with the consequences.

Another recent phenomenon is the increase in the premature birth rate, i.e. births before term, defined as 37 or more weeks after the mother’s last menstrual period. Pre-term birth is the leading cause of new born deaths and a major cause of neonatal health problems and lifelong learning and physical disabilities. Nearly half a million babies are born prematurely in the U.S.A each year amounting to over 1.300 births per day. Since 1981 the rate of premature birth has grown by 27 %. 

Gender Equality or Inequality:

Gender equality is defined as giving men and women the same possibilities, rights and obligations in all essential areas of life. Even where there is economic, and I stress economic, gender equality, in parts of society, the fertility rate is not radically higher. Data shows that 42% of high-achieving women in corporate America (defined as companies with 5,000 or more employees) were still childless after age 40.  47% of women in the U.S.A. with graduate and professional degrees are still childless between the ages of 40 to 44, while only 14% said that they originally did not want children. Two thirds of women executives in the UK did not have children. 44% of academics in Germany are childless. 60% of the world’s 113 million children, who do not attend primary school, are girls. Women make up 2/3 of those who cannot read or do simple mathematics and women are estimated to own less than 2% of private land world-wide.

If we look at the birth rate and employment participation rate of women in Europe we see that in the Nordic countries the rate is highest in both categories from 1,86 births and 75,3% participation in Norway to a 1,14 birth rate and 48% participation in Spain. So it would seem that participation in the work force is not necessarily the reason for a low fertility rate as such. 

On the other hand we have moved from being an agrarian society through an industrial society, where muscle and physical strength were optimal qualities, to being a chemical and electronic society, where education, health and information are the dominant factors. Today’s economy is not based on physical strength but on education. Which of course greatly levels the playing field for both male and female alike. So the first step to gender equality in the modern world could be education. 

Discrimination or support of  families in the business community:

We must not forget that gender equality is not just about the elimination of discrimination against women but also is about the elimination of discrimination against men who would like to take on the role of fathers. So we need not only equality for women in the work force but for men within families, to take their rightful place in the rearing and education of their children. 

The business community is realising more and more that many of the qualities needed for successful participation in the work force in general are learned, not primarily in kindergarten, schools, universities or in the business community, but in families such as: creativity, flexibility, innovation, a thirst for knowledge, practical knowledge, self-discipline, team-spirit, identification and bonding with a community, caring, and other social skills.

Ladies and Gentlemen, no one seminar can offer all the answers but even asking the right questions and indicating possible areas for further fruitful debate would be worth the endeavour so I wish our deliberations, with the input of such distinguished presenters, and contributions from the floor, over the next two days, to be challenging, controversial and constructive and above all to see us depart tomorrow being all the richer for the experience.

Thank you.

References: 

Becker, G. 2002
Brody, J. 2003
Cohen, D. 2000
Crowley, P. 2003
Goldenberg, R. 2003
Hewlett, A. 2002
MacDonald, M. & Nierenberg, D. 2003
Schmidt, R. 2001
United Nations, Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs 2002
Wattenberg, B. 2003

Ursula haubner: Compatibility of Family and Business Life

U. Haubner, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Social Security and Generations
Dear NGO representatives, dear participants,

Improving reconciliation of work and family life – and not work and private life, as I recently read in one of the documents prepared by the European Commission - is among the top priorities of European families.  This political challenge is embedded in social and demographic trends that reveal significant changes in the environment in which families operate. We all know them, they range from changing patterns of family formation and structures, from changes in the work force composition, the emergence of new forms of labour organisation, the reorganisation of social security systems to new forms of shared responsibilities between women and men.

On behalf of the Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection, Herbert Haupt, it is my pleasure to open this international meeting on such an important issue as the “Compatibility of Family and Business Life”, organised by the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family. 

The co-operation of the Ministry responsible for family policy with the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family has over the years become something like a tradition and clearly demonstrates how important and fruitful the government – NGO relationship can be, if based on mutual respect and trust, on expertise and reliability. Since 1997 the Committee has carried out a very stimulating project originally called “building family networks in the Central and Eastern European Countries”. In a series of meetings in Vienna and in Sigulda, Latvia, the Committee, supported by the Ministry through its Austrian secretariat, has worked on effective strategies to strengthen family NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe. In doing so they have been able to establish links between family NGOs within the various countries, across borders and have linked these organisations with international for a such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe. Moreover, they have prepared these groups for the accession of their countries to the European Union. Recently, they have taken advantage of the New Technologies in putting this network on the Internet. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Austria is one of the European countries, in which family policy has gained considerable importance during the past years. While glossy magazines spread the image of the life as a single, and across Europe fertility rates are going down,  the study on European values shows the family is on top of the raking (at the average with 84 per cent, followed by gainful employment with 58 per cent and leisure time with 32 per cent).

At the European Congress of Demographers in Berlin in 2002 scientists and economists unanimously requested more money for families in order to foster the human capital which is the basis of cohesive societies. The majority of economists in Berlin spoke against means-testing of additional benefits for families as tying them to the provision of child care facilities, if real possibilities of choice for parents are to be made available. 

In Austria, this change of paradigm has already been carried out, because we believe that parents are those who know best what is needed for them and for their children. We decided to help them by financial but also immaterial means, such as counselling, mediation and parental education.

The goal of Austrian family policy is to guarantee families living in Austria a maximum degree of social security and fair compensation for their contribution to society. The major instrument serving this purpose is the Family Burden Equalization Fund (the FLAF). This fund finances the two central transfer payments, namely the family allowance and the childcare benefit.

The introduction of the childcare benefit at the beginning of 2002 constitutes a milestone in our efforts to facilitate the reconciliation of family and working life for both mothers and fathers. All parents, irrespective of whether they were in employment before the birth of the child or not, now are entitled to childcare benefit at EURO 436 per months. If the mother and the father take turn at caring for the child, the benefit may be received up to 36 months. Furthermore, the provision is permitting a parent to earn up to EURO 14.600 in addition to the benefit, thus encouraging parents to maintain contact with the labour market. This measure helps parents to return to their former employment after taking parental leave and – very importantly - gives parents a greater freedom of choice. Finally, the childcare benefit is linked with the provision of full health insurance and payment of severance contribution during the period in which the mother or the father receive this benefit.

Another innovation is the family hospice leave, introduced on the basis of a separate fund, the Family Hospice Leave Fund, that allows family members to care for dying relatives or seriously ill children. In the past, caregivers usually had to give up their jobs if they wanted to care for terminally ill family members in their last weeks and months of life. The introduction of the family hospice leave in 2002 has made it possible for women and men in Austria to either take full time leave or reduce their working hours or change their job location during the time that they are attending to dying relatives or seriously ill children. In principle, this leave can last up to three months and may be extended for up to six months. The caregivers are protected from dismissal while caring for their dying relatives and also for four weeks after the death of the person they cared for. And they retain their health and pension insurance coverage.

Another step – among others - in the direction of diminishing the gap between family work and gainful employment is the introduction of the new severance payment scheme. Under this scheme, employees and former employees receive contributions out of the FLAF to their personal “providential account” for periods in which they receive childcare benefits as well as for periods of educational leave or family hospice leave. These benefits are equivalent to 1.53 per cent of the childcare benefit, on average some EURO 6.70 per month.

Looking into the near future, this government is determined to introduce an entitlement to part-time work and flexible working arrangements for parents until the child’s 7th birthday or until school entry together with the right to return to full-time occupation. This possibility will be offered to employees with more than 3 consecutive years of work within the same enterprise and in companies with more than 20 employees. With this entitlement of parents to part-time work until school-entry of the child - and in addition to the possibility to take up full-time employment up to 13 weeks per year during parental leave - it is to be expected that many fathers will make use of this new opportunity and intensify contact with the child to the benefit of her/his development.

Finally, I would like to inform about plans for an amendment to the Childcare Allowance Act: As of 1 of January 2004 a supplement will be introduced in the case of multiple-births amounting to 50 per cent of the childcare allowance for every second and further child. We estimate that per year around 1.100 twins and 30 triplets will benefit from this additional family support amounting to approximately 8.5 million EURO a year. 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The reform of the welfare state has become the main topic across Europe; within this trend, family policy in Austria developed into the major issue of innovation and promise for the future.

I wish your deliberation every success and thank you for your attention.

Contact: www.familie.bmsg.gv.at

working paper- family roundtable

The Family Roundtable as a Device for Regional Family Policy

WORKING PAPER

by
André Habisch and René Schmidpeter 
(Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt)

Abstract:

Over the last few decades family politics has been merely conceptualised in terms of welfare state financial transfers. Recently, the role of civic engagement, networks and local initiatives has been emphasised. These functions coincidences with Pope John Pauls II. Enzyklika 'Familiaris Consortio'. It was 20 years ago when in FC 44 family policy was designed as the matter of the families' own political engagement. In order to implement these ideas, the 'family roundtable' has been developed as an instrument for local family initiatives. The family roundtable is a professionally moderated 2 years communication process which unites local politicians, business people, church groups and decision makers from family associations who share a common initiative in order to improve the local living conditions of families. From this process relevant projects are identified and jointly implemented according to the regional necessities (a focus often is on work-life-balance). The ZFG functions as a scientific advisor institution to the Bavarian Ministry for Family and Social Affairs in 7 pilot projects of the 'Family Roundtable' throughout different regions in the country. In this working paper the change of paradigm in family politics, the concept of the family roundtable, and the goals of its implementation will be discussed.

The Family Roundtable as a Device for Regional Family Policy

WORKING PAPER

by
André Habisch and René Schmidpeter

Situation of family politics in Europe
Family politics in Europe has now been around for nearly half a century. In Germany for example the ministry on family affairs was founded in 1953. In nearly every federal state (Bundesland) in Germany, a family resort exists, which is often connected to the social, gender affairs or the youth department. However, the success of the ongoing efforts is ambivalent. On the one side, a high amount of monetary transfer and financial support for families has been established (BMFSFJ 1995). Which is similar to most other European countries, where family policy has been conceptualised in terms of welfare state financial transfers. On the other side, various indicators show that the situation of families and children in Germany, as well as in many European countries, is worsening over the years. These indicators are as follows: low birth-rate, high number of children and young people with an income below the minimum level, decline in weddings and increase in divorces (BMFSFJ 1995). All these developments show that families are to a lesser degree fulfilling their important functions in society. Further evidence is connected to the weak performance of German pupils in the international PISA study, in which the little engagement of parents for their children is explicitly mentioned. Consequently, the weak family performance has already affected the success of other societal systems, e.g. the educational system, health system, economic system etc.. Thus, social welfare focused family politics has proved to be incapable of dealing with important problems of our society. As in other political areas central state policies are in a crises. 

Societal Developments affecting Family Politics
The increasing tendencies of individualisation within the society, as well as inside the family, contribute to a large extent to the declining societal conditions for families. Individualisation is argued to be the by-product of different megatrends in society, which undermine the success of the family. Especially, the increasing specialisation and efficiency in the working area, which relates to the economic development is showing increased strains, but also better payment for employees. Both of which raise the opportunity costs for anyone who stays at home or tries to balance work and family life. Additionally, the growing mobility aggravates the co-operation between the different generations inside the family and hinders the necessary inner family support. As highly interrelated community groups and important networks for families, such as neighbourhood support, community associations, church groups etc. are on the decline too, informal personal support is diminishing (Putnam 2000). As a result, families often have to cope with their problems on their own and are very often reaching their limit of burdening. In the face of the demographic developments (ageing, individualisation, increasing childless couples) the supply structures of the housing market, the traffic infrastructure, the travelling market etc. are adjusting to new consumer segments. Thus, family needs are often not served by the markets anymore or only available at very high costs. Furthermore social security systems are continuously improving which take many former functions of families in the field of social security. Consequently, family relations become functionless and for many families mutual support seems superfluous. These and other social developments which influence the daily live of families, can not be tackled with classical instruments of central state family politics, such as mere monetary transfers. The problems which family face vary very much, depending on how old the children are, whether both partners are working or not etc. Regional differences also exist. For example families in rural areas have different problems and needs than families who live in a inner-city area. 

New Paradigm of Family Politics
A new paradigm for family politics needs to be developed in order to overcome the complex disintegration problems which are at the core of many social problems of our society (Habisch 2000). New family policies can not be considered within the framework of classical social politics, but must be founded in an integrated policy framework for society (Wingen 2001). Family politics importance is to increase the awareness of family related issues throughout all different subsystems of society and its policymakers. As the wealth and situation of families is influenced by many factors in different systems and organisations (business, education, health-system, politics, religion etc.) and on different levels (region, state, Europe) it is necessary to create a culture of family friendliness where all sectors in society are supportive of the needs of families. This means that it is important to implement constitutional dialogues (Habisch and Schmidpeter 2001) between actors and organisations from different sectors. Family politics has to integrate civic engagement and focus on the creation of a broad platform for family oriented actions on all levels. Family politics is a cross-border task, which needs new instruments in order to succeed. It seems especially important to integrate business organisations (particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which make up ~ 80% of the economic activities), media, education and cultural institutions in family policy development. One of the important location of family policy is the region (Meister and Wuest 2000). Because on the regional level, the interaction of groups from different subsystems (businesspeople, politicians, citizens etc.) of society can be developed the easiest. There families also can bring in their specific needs and arguments to the discussion. At the regional level, the state can function as a moderator to stimulate constitutional dialogues between the different groups in society. Thus, the state enables the citizens and decision-makers to develop specific family oriented policies for their region. Regional policies also seem especially important for SMEs which need supportive regional structures for implementing work-family procedures in their daily business. In order to bring the different actors together the instrument of the ‘family roundtable’ has been developed to emphasise the role of civic engagement, networks and local initiatives in the field of family politics. The first 7 pilot projects are now being implemented with the support of the Bavarian Ministry for Social Affairs and Family in different regions in Bavaria (www.stmas.bayern.de/familie/tische.htm). The Central Institute for Marriage and Family in Society (ZFG) of the Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt has been appointed as the scientific adviser for this pilot study.

The Principles of the Family Roundtable
The family roundtable is an individually adapted model for regional integration of diverse actors in the policy-making process. It is a professional moderated two year communication process which unites local politicians, business leaders, small and medium sized enterprise owners, educational and day-care representatives, regional planner, church groups and families.  Priority of the roundtable is to engage people who are not professionally involved in family issues and who can function as new multiplier to support innovative family policies in the region. An innovative network of co-operation and participation should be created which makes use of the specific knowledge of the different actors (Pinkepank and Banthien 1999). The different perspectives and experiences of the participants should help to identify relevant projects and jointly implement them according to the specific regional necessities (a focus often is on work-life balance). The process leads a region from the agenda setting process via a systematic participation and motivation process towards concrete projects (IFOK 2001). The following graphic shows the different steps and elements of the process.

At the opening event all interested citizens are invited. It is very important to inform and integrate all relevant groups of the region in the beginning of the process. The first event aims to raise the awareness regarding the importance of regional family issues and integrate already existing family initiatives and solutions of the region. Building on this broad expertise the participants set their own agenda and core topics for the process. In the following sessions the participants develop concrete projects related to the chosen core topics. Central to this work are the specific needs and competencies of the region. Hidden potentials as discovered should be integrated in the concrete project designs. The plenum meetings function as platform for information exchange, overall project co-ordination, work allocation and input from external experts. The operational work is done within small working groups which meet regularly over the two year process. The working groups are responsible for an efficient and intensive project development. Within these groups important practical questions along with the specific situation for the implementation, are discussed. The progress and results from the different working groups will be regularly presented in the plenum meetings and integrated into the overall process. Finally, the closing event integrates all participants again and is open to all interested citizens. The results of all working groups will be presented to the public and the implementation of the projects will be further discussed.

Goals of the family roundtable
According to the underlying principles of the family roundtable five goals can be formulated (c.f. Figure 2). First, an awareness for the importance of family issues in the region has to be build up. The engagement of different groups in society can only be achieved if people perceive family issues as important for their personal and professional life. The need for concrete family policies should be discussed from the perspective of different subsystems in society (e.g. local government, local business, schools etc.). Therefore, the family roundtable should help to build a regional platform to communicate family issues openly while integrating the media in the whole process. Second, the communication process should lead to consistent and informed opinion building of the participants and the citizens in the region. Thus, different perspectives and point of views are discussed. Even if an agreement on a substantial level can not be achieved, the dialogue leads to a culture of understanding which establishes a well-informed public opinion. Although the perspectives of the participants may continue to differ a mutual understanding and acceptance of a common dimension in terms of which an issue is to be conceptualised can be achieved. This so called agreement on the meta-level (List 2002) then makes it easier to develop new family policies together. The mutual policy development and implementation is already the third goal of the process. Only if the participants co-operate in order to implement their ideas together and make the necessary changes in their specific environment (business, local administration etc.) new family policies can be successfully implemented. The mutual effort is only sustainable if project implementation means a win-win for all participants and the region. The overall goal of the process is the improvement of the regional social infrastructure for families. This means that the planned projects lead to concrete improvements for the life of families in the region. This for example can be as follows: new child-care possibilities, better public transportation system for families, new child-oriented housing areas, work-family policies in the business sector, improved school system, a new youth house, integration of family support in the health system etc.. Last but not least, the family roundtable is about building networks of co-operation in the region. By working together trust between the different actors can be created. The culture of co-operation and trust between the different groups of society helps to overcome collective action problems (Ostrom 2002). The new contacts and experiences of collaboration also help to tackle other social problems in the region. Thus, the family roundtable seems not only capable of producing new family policies but it also can foster interaction in other policy areas. Once the different groups of the region learned how a mutual advantage can be achieved through changing their environment together other important political issues can be tackled in similar ways. 

Conclusions
The family roundtable is an innovative policy instrument which builds on the specific characteristics of an integrated societal policy approach (‘Gesellschaftsordnungspolitik’). The roundtable differs in various ways from conventional instruments: It is build on the ideas of the Catholic social doctrine of subsidiarity. As Pope Johannes Paul II wrote it: „Families…have to take initiative in the area of family politics; they should take over responsibility for the change of society. Otherwise they will be the first victims of the evils which they only observed indifferently before.” Thus, the families and regional institutions do not have to degenerate to a mere executive body of centrally planned programs and actions. Rather the families, together with regional organizations and institutions, have to influence their own agenda. The higher political levels and institutions only deliver suggestions and information to the region. The projects are planned and implemented only by the decision and engagement of the participants of the roundtable. Therefore, the specific knowledge and competencies of the local actors as well as the specific regional circumstances, can be incorporated in the process. This new concept also means that political decision-makers are appointed to a new role. The function of the politicians can be described as: moderators of the regional dialogue and consensus finding process, rather than managers of a passive civil society. However, the family roundtable does not release the politicians from their political responsibility, but includes the democratically elected decision-makers in the roundtable process and discussions. The goal of family roundtables is not to implement a temporary discussion project, but to build up social capital in the region. Sustainable structures of mutual trust and reciprocity allow the co-operation between actors of different subsystems of society. This structure includes self-governing, self-surveillance and if necessary self-sanctioning within the regional network. The family roundtable includes the public as a constitutive part of the process. It aims to sensibilise the public towards the importance and specific needs of families in the region. It also maps out different opportunities of action for the citizens, while functioning as a catalysator to build a family culture in the region. An indicator for successful policy processes are the emergence of new forms of cross-sector communication and cooperation rather than short-term actions. Such a co-operative approach strengthens the identification with the results and the outcome of the process. It also makes the implementation and acceptance of common projects easier than using a burecrautic top-down approach. Thus, the family-roundtable is not only a political instrument but also a discovering process in order to develop new family policies, which are designed for and adapted to concrete local needs, problems and possibilities. 

References

Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Arbeit und Sozialordnung, Familie und Frauen (2002) Kommunale Familientische Bayern, www.stmas.bayern.de/familie/tische.htm, 29.05.2002.

BMFSFJ - Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (1994) Familien und Familienpolitik im geeinten Deutschland – Zukunft des Humanvermögens, Drucksache 12/7560, Deutscher Bundestag 12. Wahlperiode. 

Habisch, A. (2000) Gesellschafts-Ordnungspolitik in Jans, B., A. Habisch and E. Stutzer (Eds.): Familienwissenschaftliche und familienpolitische Signale, Vektor-Verlag, Grafschaft, 2000. 

Habisch, A. and R. Schmidpeter (2001) Social Capital, Corporate Citizenship and Constitutional Dialogues in Habisch, A., H.-P. Meister and R. Schmidpeter (Eds.): Corporate Citizenship as Investing in Social Capital, Logos-Verlag, Berlin, 2001.

IFOK (2001) Der Familientisch – Von der Politik für Familien zur Politik mit Familien, Projektskizze zum Familientisch, Bensheim.

Johannes Paul II (1981) Apostolisches Schreiben Familiaris Consortio über die Aufgaben der christlichen Familie in der Welt von heute. Verlautbarungen des Apostolischen Stuhls 33,  Sekretariat der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz (Hsg.), Bonn.

List, C. (2002) Two Concepts of Agreement, The Good Society, Volume 11, No. 1.

Meister, H.-P. and J. Wüst (2000) Der Familientisch: Von der Politik für Familien zur Politik mit Familien, in Glück, A. and H. Magel (Eds.) Neue Wege in der Kommunalpolitik – Durch eine neue Bürger- und Sozialkultur zur Aktiven Bürgergesellschaft, Jehle Rehm Verlag, München, 2000.

Ostrom, E. (1990) Governing the Commons. The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1990.

Pinkepank, T. and H. Banthien (1999) Nachhaltigkeit durch partizipative Netzwerke in IFOK/ZKE (Eds.): Was heißt hier Agenda?, Röll-Verlag, Dettelbach, 1999.

Putnam, R. (2000) Bowling Alone – The Collapse and Revivial of American Community, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2000.

Wingen, M. (2001) Familienpolitische Denkanstöße, Vektor-Verlag, Grafschaft, 2001.

Contact Details:

Prof. Dr. André Habisch and René Schmidpeter, MA
Central Institute for Marriage and Family in the Society
Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt
Ostenstraße 26 - 28
85072 Eichstaett
e-mail:
andre.habisch@ku-eichstaett.de
rene.schmidpeter@ku-eichstaett.de

Uwe Reiner-Kolouch: Compatibility of Family and Business Life

As Viewed from the Business Company
presented by
Director Organisational & Personnel Development
HEROLD Business Data AG, Mödling

Summary of the presentation 

"Compatibility of Family and Business Life as viewed from the Business Company" by Uwe Reiner-Kolouch, HEROLD Business Data AG, Mödling/Austria.

HEROLD Business Data is the major Yellow Pages provider and provider for high quality business data in Austria, HEROLD’s economic success over the last five years is strongly based on it s 428 employees and the common culture these people are living i Integrated Shared Values and rules of working together 

were worked out together with the employees, managers, works council and customers. This prepared a good platform for actively discussing even family issues between those interested parties and delivered a set of practical examples offering positive solutions to compatibility issues.

The impact of these measures and cultural activities can be seen in the positive employee satisfaction and decreased employee turnover rates. Outside the company the activities regarding family issues was rewarded and honoured with the certificate "Audit Family & Business" and by the first place in an Austrian-wide initiative for family and business initiatives.
When talking about compatibility the future challenges must be seen from the different perspectives of employees, employers as well as the social perspective. Beside the commitment to face family issues the most important focus on the employer’s side is the concentration on the individuality of family measures, so that the individual’s needs are fulfilled in a win-win-situation between employer and employee. 
On the employee side, the active self responsibility is the main challenge the employees are facing. Every human being is addressed to actively take responsibility for his/her life e.g. discussing family topics with their superiors and working on common win-win-solutions like when real partners are doing it.
Another perspective is society. Here the partly "old-fashioned" legal requirements have to be adapted to the actual needs in business life, so that the employees and employers are engaged to work on and find common solutions. Even the educational system (school, universities) must focus more on social skills and working with human beings with all their family background.

Details about the presentation can be found in the power-point slides or in personal contact with Uwe Reiner-Kolouch 
(email: uwe.reiner@herold.at).

Introduction
8	HEROLD Business Data AG
8	Company Culture Conditions
8	Practical Examples for Compatibility
8	Compatibility Impact & Results
8	Trends of Compatibility
4	On employer´s side
4	On emloyee´s side
8	Future Social Challenges & Issues
8	Questions & Answers

HEROLD Business Data AG  - Overview
8	Founded in 1919
8	Owners
4	Verizon 74%
4	Telekom Austria 26%
8	Major Yellow Pages Publisher in Austria
4	Partner of Telekom Austria as the publisher for the Austrian telephone book and Yellow Pages since 1991.
4	Print, CD-Rom, Internet
8	Business Data
4	High Quality Data Base of Austria´s Companies
4	Print, CD-Rom, Internet

HEROLD Business Data AG - Figures
8	Revenue 2002*:	EUR 64,5 Mio.
8	Net Income 2002*:	EUR 7 Mio.
8	Headcount**:

Company Culture Conditions
8	Integrated company values
8	Non Compromise Areas (NCAs) 
8	Integrated leadership policies
8	Involvement of all partners 
of interest
4	Employees
4	Works council
4	Managers
4	Customers
8	Actively discussing family issues

 

Practical Examples for Compatibility
8	Flood victims in 2002
4	Flexible time for rescue workers
4	Financial support for deeply affected employees
8	Use of EU support for trainings
4	For women and men over 45 of age
4	Refund of 2/3 of training costs
8	Temporary part time agreements
4	In cases of taking care of ill kids or parents
4	For managers and employees
8	Bring kids to work
4	In cases of emergencies or on school holidays
4	Kids should get to know their parent´s company

Compatibility Impact & Results
8	Employee satisfaction
4	2002: 74% are (very) satisfied, 16% neutral
8	Retaining employees
4	Employee turnover 
•	1996: 50,2% 	2002: 13,2%
4	Average years of service
•	1996: 2,2 years	2002: 4,5 years
8	Image as employer
4	Family initiative “Taten statt Worte” 
•	2002:	3rd place in Lower Austria
•	2003: 	1st place in Lower Austria
	1st place in Austria
4	Basic certificate “Audit Family & Business” 2003

Trends of Compatibility on Employer´s Side
8	Philosophy of individuality
4	Offer Support according to the individual´s needs
8	Definition of general conditions
4	Collective agreements (e.g. flextime system)
4	Shared Values & policies (NCAs)
8	Focus on social abilities
4	Recruiting
4	Personnel Development
8	Use external audit tools
4	Family initiative “Taten statt Worte” 
4	Basic Certificate “Audit Family & Business” 2003
8	Introduction of teleworking

Trends of Compatibility on Employee´s Side
8	Strengthen employees´ self responsibility
4	Shared Values & NCAs
4	Self responsibility as part of trainings/seminars
8	Actively use PD-offer from company
4	Contribute in PD-talks with superior
4	Use training possibilities
8	See employer as a partner for work-life issues
4	Ask for support
4	Work on a common win-win-solution

Future Social Challenges & Issues
8	Legal requirements
4	Review flextime and overtime regulations
4	Support employment for staff over 45 of age
4	Labour law legislation & jurisdiction
8	Educational system
4	More focus on social skills
4	Leadership education for students and teachers
8	Social values
4	Develop towards strength orientation
4	Enforce people´s self responsibility
4	Balance of differences
•	Family versus work life
•	Role of women and men

Questions & Answers

8	Sabine Dumandzic-Lenzinger
Manager Human Resources
8	Gerhard Stock
Quality Manager
8	Uwe Reiner-Kolouch
Director Organisational & Personnel Development

Prof. RON PrinZ : The Impact of Working Parents

Considerations for the Benefit of Children

Ron Prinz, Ph.D. 
Carolina Distinguished Professor

Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina
	For caregivers (parents) who are employed full-time, the birth of a child and the accompanying demands of childrearing represent major challenges.  Working mothers and fathers who would like to spend extensive time interacting with their infants or young children have to sacrifice aspects of the care-giving role to protect the economic solvency of their families.  The question at hand is:  what is the impact on the children when the parents are fully employed?
Sources of Prior Concerns
	Concerns about the impact of parental employment on children’s well-being stems from several sources.  Three important concerns are briefly considered here:  (1) the influence of psychoanalytic theory; (2) the emergence of attachment theory; and (c) evaluation of the impact from early deprivation, derived primarily from studies of orphanage-reared infants and children.
Psychoanalytic Theory
	In psychoanalytic theory, mother-child interaction is central.  In early versions of psychoanalytic theory, any disruptions to the mother’s relationship with the young child were viewed as adverse to psychological development and long-term adjustment.  Although psychoanalytic theory did not specifically addressing parental employment, extrapolations from psychoanalytic theory have considered full-time maternal employment during the first several years of a child’s life to be detrimental.

Attachment Theory
	Bowlby championed the notion that during the first two years of life young children typically form key attachments with their caregivers. Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others have maintained that the development of such attachments in terms of specific, enduring, and emotion-based bonds are critical to long-term adjustment in childhood and beyond.  Impediments to attachment formation, or disruptions as attachments are developing, are seen by attachment theorists as adverse to healthy emotional and psychological development of children.  Influenced by psychoanalytic theories, Bowlby argued that attachment to the mother in particular is of paramount importance. More recent postulations by attachment theorists offer a more generic perspective that the gender of the caregiver is less important than the constancy and quality of the attachment.  Nonetheless, attachment theory applied to dual-employed parents, for example, might lead to the supposition that full-time employment might interfere with the development and sustenance of stable and consistent attachment, particularly during the first two years of children’s lives.
Early Deprivation and Orphanage-Reared Infants/Children
	Much of the research about the effects of early deprivation on children stems from studies on orphanage-reared children.  In examining the impact of orphanage care on young children, researchers had to first reckon with the heterogeneity among orphanages with respect to environmental characteristics.  One approach has been to consider a hierarchy of needs met by an institutional setting:
Level One:	health and nutrition
Level Two:	stimulation supporting sensori-motor, cognitive, and language development
Level Three:	social stimulation from interactions with adults and other children
Level Four:	stable and consistent relationships that foster emotional attachments
	Level One pertains to the meeting of physical needs (e.g., clothing, shelter, safety), as well as adequate nutrition and medical care.  Level Two concerns human and environmental stimulation aimed at supporting sensori-motor, cognitive, and language development.  This stimulation includes environmental props such as books and toys that are age-appropriate and engaging, as well as human stimulation to promote development.  Level Three centers around social interactions.  Children benefit from frequent and constructive social interactions with adults and other children.  These types of interactions are needed for social-emotional development.  Finally, Level Four focuses on emotional attachments.  The assumption is that children benefit from stable and consistent relationships in their lives, typically with a primary caregiver or caregivers.  When this level is well met, circumstances and conditions foster such emotional attachments.  There is reason to believe that children who develop a stable and consistent attachment with a caregiver experience better long-term psychological adjustment, and that the absence of a stable attachment in childhood is associated with later problems such as delinquency, lack of empathy, and adult relationship difficulties.
	A classic example of an orphanage-related study is the one conducted by Provence and Lipton (1962) who followed the development of infants over two years in a U.S. orphanage.  The institution provided a clean environment and adequate medical and nutritional care, thus meeting level one in the hierarchy of needs.  However, the infants were exposed to very low rates of social stimulation, high staff turnover and child-to-staff ratios, and thus unstable relationships, which indicates that levels two through four in the hierarchy were not met. Provence and Lipton noted a developmental decline in the infants over time.  They observed:  sustained apathy; cognitive impairments still apparent at age five years, even though the children had been adopted by families at age two years; and delays in language development.  Despite adequate medical care and nutrition, the children studied by Provence and Lipton showed some indications of failure to thrive, which was likely attributable to factors associated with unmet needs for hierarchy levels two through four.
	Work by Tizard and colleagues add to the picture.  They studied orphaned children who lived in English institutions that served as training sites for nurses.  In addition to appropriate health and nutritional care, these institutions provided adequate stimulation (level two) and social interaction (level three) because child-to-staff ratios were quite low, the settings were well stocked with developmentally appropriate books and toys, and the children went on many outings with staff.  The only drawback was that there was very high turnover of staff because these were training sites, which meant that level four in the hierarchy (stable and consistent relationships fostering attachment) was not met.  The children did not show the kinds of delays or failure to thrive noted by Provence and Lipton.  However, they did develop behavior problems, insensitivity to social cues, and excessive social approaches to children and adults (perhaps seeking out the emotional bonding that had been missing in their lives).
	An even more striking example is found in studies of Romanian orphans rescued from dismal orphanages. Rutter and colleagues tracked orphans from Romania who were adopted by families in various countries.  The studies pointed to difficulties in cognitive functioning (possibly worsened by conditions of malnutrition), peer relationships, and attachments with adopted caregivers.
Parental Employment and Child Outcomes
	A concern by some is that children raised by parents who are fully employed outside the home might suffer adverse effects along the lines of those observed in orphanage or institution reared infants and children.  The scientific evidence, however, has not supported this contention.  
	Much of the research pertaining to the effects of parental employment on children has focused on maternal employment in dual-earner families. Early research compared children of employed and non-employed mothers without controlling for potentially critical variables such as socioeconomic status, occupational status, cultural background, family size, or marital status.  Consequently, any differences in child development and adjustment that were found might have been due to these other confounding factors rather than specifically to maternal employment.  
	Fueled by psychoanalytic theory, the research was driven by the expectation that maternal employment is detrimental to children.  However, reviews of extensive research (including better-controlled studies) has led to the conclusion that maternal employment in itself is neither facilitative nor detrimental to children’s development and adjustment (see Gottfried, Gottfried, & Bathurst, 1995).  
	Based on the large body of research, an alternative perspective has emerged called the “developmental impingement perspective,” which has four basic tenets.  The first tenet is that there is no presumption of deficit, detriment, or benefit to children being raised in dual-earner families.  The second tenet is that the developmental level of the child must be taken into account in evaluating outcomes.  What is detrimental or harmful for infants may not be so for older children, and vice versa.  The third tenet is that children’s development is multivariate in nature, and that a broad array of developmental domains must be taken into account concurrently to understand the impact of factors such as caregiver employment.  Finally, the fourth tenet is that a multiplicity of factors must be examined in an integrative manner at various ecological levels to determine possible outcomes (positive, negative, and no difference).
	The extent to which children are affected by parental employment seems to be influenced by a number of factors.  Some of the factors include:
How well parents balance roles in the family (e.g., sharing of responsibilities, substituting for each other in their interactions with the children)
Involvement of fathers in intact, divorced, and blended families
Availability of extended family (e.g., grandparents, aunts/uncles, grown siblings)
The quality of the child-care setting, including quality of stimulation and social interactions, the staff-to child ratio, and the training and supervision of child-care staff
The impact of the employment setting, including availability of nontraditional work schedules, flexibility in the work environment, and endorsement of “family-friendly” policies
The patterns of parental involvement
For older children, their engagement and participation in family activities and responsibilities
Recommendations
	Work and community policies impacting families need to take into account the developmental needs of children and families.  During the initial three to four months of a child’s life, it is important for the infant to have lots of nurturance and stimulation, which helps to begin promoting attachment.  However, it is even more important during this period that the caregiver (i.e., parent) bond with or become strongly attached to the infant because that will help promote the sustaining of attachment over time.  Employment and work-setting policies need to protect those early months of bonding.  Throughout the rest of the first two years of a child’s development, the child is continuing to build up an attachment with the caregiver.  This period also needs to be protected so as not to disrupt the developing attachment.  As a child develops with respect to memory and cognitive representations (i.e., develops “object permanence”), it then becomes easier for substitute caregivers to assist more.  With object permanence, the child’s stable attachment with the caregiver(s) provides a foundation which can be extended to relationships with others.
	It is important not to overlook the role that parenting itself plays in this issue.  Quality of parenting is a major factor in child development.  Parental confidence in parenting is eroded by many things in society, including but limited to employment demands and pressures.  Upwards of 25-40% of parents report child behavior problems that they are not sure how to address.  Access to evidence-based programming to strengthen parenting could reduce child behavior problems, which in turn might ease some of the strain that parents employed outside the home sometimes experience.  Employers can contribute to this by making parenting programs available through the workplace.  (see Sanders, 1999)
	Children and families can benefit from flexibility in the workplace.  Although this flexibility is particularly important during the first two years of a child’s life, children older than two years can also benefit.  Examples of flexibility include opportunities for the parent to make lunch visits to preschool or kindergarten, to stay home with a sick child, to work at home on some days, and to have scheduling options.
	The proximity of workplace to out-of-home childcare setting would also benefit children and families.  In addition to reducing travel and commute time, proximity would make it easier for parents to drop in on the children at lunchtime, and perhaps to worry less because their children are nearby.  Communities, government, and employers will need to be more involved in promoting high-quality and close-proximity childcare (including childcare at the workplace site in larger organizations).
	In conclusion, the well-being of children is a shared responsibility of families, communities, and employers.

References

Ainsworth, M.D. (1982).  Attachment:  Retrospect and prospect.  In C.M. Parkes & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds), The place of attachment in human behavior (pp. 3-30).  New York:  Basic Books.
Bowby, J. (1969).  Attachment and loss:  I. Attachment.  London:  Hogarth.
Bowby, J. (1973).  Attachment and loss:  II. Separation.  London:  Hogarth.
Bowby, J. (1980).  Attachment and loss:  III. Loss, sadness, and depression.  New York:  Basic Books.
Gottfried, A.E., Gottfried, A.W., Bathurst, K., & Killian, C. (1999).  Maternal and dual-earner employment:  Family environment, adaptations, and the developmental impingement perspective.  In M.E. Lamb (Ed.), Parenting and child development in “nontraditional” families (pp. 14-37).  Mahwah, NJ:  Erlbaum.
Gottfried, A.E., Gottfried, A.W., & Bathurst, K. (1995).  Maternal and dual-earner employment status and parenting.  In M.H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting:  Volume 2, Biology and ecology of parenting (pp. 139-160).  Mahwah, NJ:  Erlbaum.
Lamb, M.E., & Campos, J.J. (1982).  Development in infancy.  New York:  Random House.
Lamb, M.E., Hwang, C.P., Ketterlinus, R.D., & Fracasso, M.P. (1999).  Parent-child relationships:  Development in the context of the family.  In M.H. Bornstein & M.E. Lamb (Eds.), Developmental psychology:  An advanced textbook, fourth edition (pp. 411-449).  Mahwah, NJ:  Erlbaum.
Provence, S., & Lipton, R.C. (1962).  Infants in institutions.  New York:  International Universities Press.
Rutter, M.  (1981).  Maternal deprivation reassessed, second edition.  Middlesex, England:  Penguin.
Sanders, M.R. (1999).  Triple P-Positive Parenting Program:  Towards an empirically validated multilevel parenting and family support strategy for the prevention of behavioral and emotional problems in children.  Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2, 71-90.
Tizard, B., Cooperman, O., Joseph, A., & Tizard, J. (1972).  Environmental effects on language development:  A study of young children in long-stay residential nurseries.  Child Development, 43, 337-358.
Tizard, B., & Hodges, J. (1978).  The effect of early institutional rearing on the development of eight-year-old children.  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 19, 99-118.
Tizard, J., & Tizard, B. (1972).  The institution as an environment for development.  In M.P.M. Richards (Ed.), The integration of a child into a social world.  Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press.
Contact:prinz@gwm.sc.edu

Prof. Masud Hoghughi: Parenting and Work-life Balance

Prof. Masud Hoghughi,
University of Hull, England

My purpose during this session is to set out briefly the main dimensions of parenting and the issues of work-life balance affecting it.

Parenting is arguably the most fundamental purpose of existence of any species, particularly humans, for without it the species would die. In the case of human beings this evolutionary imperative is also overlain by profound and extensive cultural factors generated by their ability actively to reflect on and shape what they do. In the course of evolution this parenting activity has received much attention, though it is only now that it is receiving detailed systematic academic and political attention and recognised for the overwhelmingly important issue it is.

Parenting can also be regarded as the main universal bond of common experience among adults, irrespective of age, ethnicity, religion, nationality, political belief and socio-economic status. The main tasks of parenting are identical across all these boundaries, although its content and balance are dependent and cultural and environmental factors.

Whilst it is not possible legitimately to claim that parenting is the most complex lifelong activity of human beings (perhaps man/woman relationships are even more complex), there would be general agreement that it is amongst the most demanding that adults have a face. This is because the biological imperative of bearing children and looking after them until the social and psychological environment in which potential parents have to operate.

Once children have been born, there usually develops a lifelong involvement between parents and children whose balance tilts with the aging of the parents and the changes in the balance of power between them and their children.

To avoid confusion, it is useful to distinguish between “parent” and “parenting”. Though the latter term is of relatively new usage ( and it appears exclusively in Anglophone countries) both derive from the Latin root “parere” which means to grow or develop something. Thus, “parent” denotes a biological relationship between adults and their own children with variations such as “foster”, “adoptive”, “substitute”, qualifying the fundamental birth relationship.

“Parenting” on the other hand, is concerned with processes and activities usually between adults and children, though by no means exclusively. As the following analysis indicates, parenting type activities do take place across people of varying ages, genders and dramatically diverse relationships (such as nurse and patient), teachers and pupils and friends), even though not conceptualised as parenting. This is most dramatically the case with so-called “parental” children who look after their disabled parents and grown up children who look after the elderly.

Dimensions of Parenting

These are three main dimensions of parenting:-

1.	key processes;
2.	areas of primary concern
3.	prerequisites

Key processes entail care, control and development

Care is primarily focused on ensuring survival and wellbeing of the child in physical, emotional, social and perhaps spiritual terms. It entails prevention of harm and positive promotion of wellbeing. To ensure that the child is physically healthy and thriving, emotionally robust and capable of coping with the rough and tumble of life, and socially well integrated. Claim to spiritual care for the child’s salvation is limited to groups of practising religionists. 

Control is primarily concerned with the setting and enforcement of behavioural boundaries. Whereas care is concerned with survival, control is focused of the child’s rewarding adaptation to changing  social expectations in the course of its growth Considerable variations exists within families and cultures according to what are acceptable types and levels of children’s behaviour. All cultures, however, closely regulate aspects of personal toilet, sexual expressions and anti-social-behaviour. These are clearly related to age and developmental stage of children. The increasing drift towards greater liberalism in control is being resisted in both individual Families and particular cultural settings, e.g. among the Taliban.

Development This is concerned with parental attempts to create the best prospects for their children through opportunities for exploring their talents and preferences.

Areas of primary concern Parental activities are generally multitask and seamless. Feeding a child, for example, to keep it alive also entails play, expression of affection and similar subtle communications. Nevertheless, it is useful to distinguish the main areas on which parental activities focus in order to ensure the objectives of care, control and development.

These entail:
Promoting health – concerned with prevention to harm and enhancement of child’s physical wellbeing

Intellectual/educational achievement – aimed at enhancing children’s problem solving ability and later, acquisition of appropriate qualifications and jobs

Secure attachment – an umbrella term encompassing aimed at development of good relationships between parent and child and the secure attachment to which it leads.

Social skills- which concern the development and maintenance of appropriate relationships with peers and adults in an increasingly widening social environment

Promoting pro-social behaviour – in reality the emphasis on prevention of anti-social behaviour and consequent trouble with the law, though concerned parents are as eager to promote pro-social values

Developing psychological competence – the main focus is the prevention of mental health problems and associated difficulties. Again, parents with appropriate insights and skills are equally concerned with the development of positive coping in their children.

Wide ranging and high quality evidence supports the view that, apart from rare genetically based disorders, the quality of parenting (though complex) is the single most powerful factor associated with how their children fare in this areas.

Prerequisites of parenting

Care, control and development in the above areas cannot take place unless parents have the necessary knowledge and understanding; motivation; resources and opportunity with which to achieve their aims. This is also of particular interest to this conference, it is where conflict of work and life demands make their primary impact.

Knowledge and understanding This is the essential starting point. It concerns the meaning parents attribute to children’s behaviour; their knowledge of children’s needs and how they are to be met at all stages of development; and their awareness of what the appropriate response to those behaviours and needs should be.

Knowledge and understanding is cumulatively available to cultures which it permeates and within which parents operate. Injunctions (such as what parents should and should not do with their children, whether by law or other force, e.g. Dr. Spock)and scientific discoveries are absorbed into a culture in a variety of ways and reach parents in different degrees and forms.

On the whole, this is not an area of serious concern other than in (1) extreme psycho-social adversity and (2) conflict between peer culture and parental influence. Evidence shows that parents are nowadays more aware of and concerned with their children’s needs and are better capable of articulating these than before. Certainly in the West, there is an ever increasing propagation of material regarding parenting tasks and how to perform them.

Motivation is the key to all human behaviour. Most parents within the same socio-cultural bands know what to do, with and for their children. The major source of variation in their behaviour is in terms of the level and consistency of their motivation to focus on and do the best for their children. This is the aspect which is most vulnerable to adversity and changes in parent’s relationship with each other and their wider circumstances.
All working parents are subject to pressure of needs and drives in four major areas as manor woman; as father or mother; as wife, husband or partner and as a worker. The demands of these four areas are rarely consistent and harmonious. This has always been the case. What is new are the structural, longer term shifts in their balance and the much greater prominence of the demands of work. There are, alongside this, also greater challenges to traditional ideas of man-woman and spouse-partner, their respective needs and 
The urgency with which they should be met. This will be further discussed in context of work-life balance.

Because human motivation is so intimately bound up with both individual personality make-up and impact of life events and experiences, it is also particularly vulnerable to socioeconomic adversity, both immediate and cumulative. The poor, in addition to their daily struggles, also face the greatest challenges in sustaining focused motivation to do their best for their children.
There are to many urgent sources of stress and anxiety which must be dealt with if they are to survive. The miracle is that so many manage to remain focused on their children well enough to produce reasonable outcomes. There is, however, little question that close and better quality attention from parent support agencies is required. 

Resources concern essential goods and services, (and the finances with which to secure them) which are necessary for achieving parenting tasks. Human resources entail chiefly the parents themselves but also their wider social network. The impact of these depends not only on available numbers (thus one parent families do generally less well than two parent ones) but also on the qualities and skills of the parents in a multitude of areas. Qualities are fundamental personality characteristics (such as intelligence, warmth and sensitivity) as shaped by experience. Skills are, on the other hand, specific competencies to do certain things (e.g. feeding a child; or helping with school work; negotiating boundaries) which are acquired through instruction or experience.

There is no reason to imagine that parents’ inborn qualities and acquired skills are any worse than in the past and may in fact be better, due to expanding cultural awareness and extension of antenatal and parent support services. What is different is the increasing number of single parent households where pressures of parenting, and thus its conflicts with order demands, are more acute. Thus, a young single mother has to balance the needs of her child for close care with that of her own needs to seek company and possibly other partner(s) and make meagre financial ends meet. It is their failure in this balancing act which results in children of such parents becoming more likely to be taken into public care.
Equally, financial and support resources for parenting are increasing and improving, if for no other reason than general (though unequal) increase in wealth and awareness of corrosive effects of poverty on children, better state provision for families and not least lower birth rate, even in Catholic countries.

Opportunity is the last prerequisite of parenting. Parents need face-to-face time with their children for extended periods to care for, control and develop them. The need for face-to-face contact appears acute in the early stages of child development and establishment of secure attachment. This need becomes less acute when other adults, such as teachers, enter the child’s life. Parental tasks can be shared and diversified in the process. However, the need for ever more focused and effective parenting in fact increases with the child’s age and exposure to external influences of peers and general culture, which might potentially affect the child in negative ways, such as exposure to drugs an unsafe sex.
	
Parental influence depends on security and centrality of parent/child attachment. Outside rigid and harshly punitive or traditional settings, this cannot be effectively achieved without considerable parent/child interaction. There is some evidence, for example, that teenagers are at greater risk of anti-social behaviour and unsafe sex if there is no-one at home when they get back from school.

Work-life Balance

This is a relatively recent concept which has come to the force focusing on the interaction and consequences of (paid) employment and the wider role expectations of adults. The concept goes beyond parenting because it clearly also applies to adults who have no children. Our interest, however, is on the impact work on demands of “good enough” parenting. The concept of “good enough” ought to remain central to our discourse. It is a humane recognition of the reality that any kind of role performance, including parenting, is rarely perfect. It also leaves open the possibility of changes in the definition of “good enough”, as social circumstances and demands change.

Currently working parents have to juggle the conflict between the demands of parenting and employment (e.g. child minding after school). This would have been unimaginable or acceptable even thirty years ago, but is regarded as the norm now, especially and increasingly in western Europe, which has the highest proportion of working mothers.

Historically, there has always been a conflict between demands of employment and parenting. Survival of a family was, until relatively recent times, dependent on the earning power of all its members who were capable of working. Until the second industrial revolution, both parents worked usually near their children, other than those fathers who were in the armed forces. Mothers kept their children in physical proximity and managed their housework combined with child care. The second industrial revolution separated a lot of families, as fathers drifted from the countryside nto urban environments and placed greater pressures on mothers and consolidated their modern role as primary care-takers. Subsequently, there have been various population movements, accompanied by a rise in the number of women who worked outside the home. The second world war accelerated this process considerably when women acquired the taste for work outside at home and some of its financial, social and psychological consequences, underlined by later feminist movement. What we see now is that movement has become established as the norm.  
		
With the expansion of western economies, the demand for larger labour forces has been largely met by ever increasing numbers of women entering the labour market. This trend is apparently set to continue in all developed countries, if current economic predictions hold. Currently Holland and then UK led the rest of Europe by 70 per cent and 60 per cent per woman of working age in employment. In the UK, 40 per cent of their working mothers have children under five, which is the start of schooling.

Although most parents still give their children the highest priority in principle, it is obvious that in practice significant compromises have to be made in reconciling their own personal needs with the requirements of being a good parent. There are many examples of such a conflict. But a most potent example, is when most women start separation and divorce proceedings in the knowledge that there will be some damage to their children. Thus, focus and priority given to children, which seem to be critical factors in high quality parenting, are not invariable. They have to take their place in a hierarchy of needs and pressures in parents’ life.

As already indicated, each parent has four roles and corresponding tasks:
Self; partner; children; work. Given the demands, conflicting burdens and complexity 
of each one, it is a wonder that so many families survive and do as well as they do. Currently, the most prominent problem of women’s motivation in developed societies concerns their role conflict as mothers and workers. Until quite recent times, most mothers worked in the house, where children also stayed and interacted with them continuously. Now there are multiple reasons – financial, social and personal – which push or pull women outside work. The barest minimum consequence is that they now have less time with their children. Other things being equal, inevitably they are not as physically close to their children as if they spent all the time with them. They are also frequently so fatigued or distracted that they are unable to give their children the “quality time” they desire. The money they earn is inadequate compensation, since only some of it goes towards the child and does little to alleviate the cumulative stress, compounded when children are unwell or other family factors clash with work commitments.

Much of what men and women bring to their parenting depends on the quality of their own relationship. The impact of this on parenting is either “additive” (when it brings additional warmth and love) or “subtractive” (when it brings tension and distress). Further, each parent (e.g. harsh father, indulgent mother) or they may adopt a joint and co-operative approach to their children. Greater rates of family break up are but one indicator that parenting is subject to increasing pressure from this quarter, as it is from many others. The increasing and high prevalence of single parenting presents a range of additional pressures.

For menthe picture has changed less, though the increasing complexity of fatherhood is now recognised in an ever growing research and professional literature. In most cultures, fathers have always been expected to work, spend time away from home and less time with their children, and do more of “their own thing”. The increasing employment of women has had a minor impact on the rate of employment of men, as the jobs are largely different. But in the West, it appears that more men now either choose, or are forced into, looking after their children whilst mother is away at work. In the UK, next to the mother, they are the largest group of care-givers. In Western and developed societies, the increase in women’s assertiveness regarding equality of opportunity and experience has resulted in growing uncertainty of men regarding their own social identity. This may be one reason why many of them have difficulties with and appear ready to duck out of proactive parenting. On the other hand, in family break ups, men are increasingly contesting female custody as the “normal” and often exclusive care-takers of their children in judicial and social contexts. Otherwise, for working men, the same issues of time, fatigue and distance in dealing with their children apply.

It is worthwhile to identify briefly some of the areas more prominently affected by possible conflicts and opportunities arising from interaction of work with other roles played by men and women as parents. These can be usefully focused on parents and children separately. 

Impact on parents

For women

•	Mother’s status as a woman is affected by going out to work: financial independence; use of personal qualifications, qualities and skills; independence of action; time away from family chores; broadened perspective on self worth, alternative relationships and life styles;
•	Mother’s status as a wife/partner is altered due to above changes; enhanced ability to evaluate husband/partner against others she meets; greater assertiveness and demand for participative decision making; work adds to pressures of maintaining traditional roles, e.g. as a home maker, cook and bottle washer;
•	Pressures on mothers are dramatically increased as a consequence of having a job; few can harmonise the demands seamlessly; there is simply reduced time for doing house chores, which are rarely equitable divided; additional finance, on the other hand, allows buying in goods and services which may benefit the children and alleviate pressure on mother. A recent study in the UK by mumsnet.org.uk shows that a huge proportion feel periodically guilty about not doing enough for and with their children;
•	Going to work takes some of the less rewarding pressures of childcare off mother – child minders and nurseries do that; by being spared constant and wearying exposure to their children, mothers are likely to treasure their children and their time with them more greatly; going to work and moving in the non-child-centred world outside the home may give them a broader perspective on their roles as mothers.

For men

•	There is a long history of separating their role as men from others they perform. However, greater advent of women into the work place has increased their exposure at close quarters to other women then their wives, thus creating greater opportunities for self exploration in relation to others; new and emerging concepts of themselves have to adjust to greater pressures from women workers. Many other issues arising from greater entry of women into the labour market fall outside the purview of this paper;
•	When women go to work, men have to take a larger share of housework and child care; there are, in some contexts, cultural impediments to such a role assumption; greater drive towards participative decision making presents some men with difficulties; men’s awareness of competitors for their wives’/partners’ affections and ability to survive independently appears to have produces unpredictable but on the whole positive and more egalitarian consequences;
•	Men’s status as workers does nor appear to have been significantly altered by greater entry of women into the labour market – they have not been pushed out of their jobs. The job market has simply expanded, though in some depressed parts of the UK, for example, the proliferation of service industries has produces disproportionately female labour markets;
•	Men’s role as fathers is now more extensive, rounded and complex; some families make a positive choice in terms of fathers becoming the main carer and housekeeper; greater numbers of women workers have pushed men into more and more complex childcare tasks, thus further helping to break down restrictive and stereotyped male self-concepts; shared care by parents a better preparation for children’s development into egalitarian citizens. A large and very recent study of the effect of mothers’ working on children’s development indicates that the absence of negative consequences for the children is because fathers increased their care of children and thus compensated for mothers reduced input.

Consequences for children

The quality of parenting is more important for children than who provides it. From the child’s side (and unlike parents) there do not appear to be “blood ties” to particular parents, at least to start with. Here, impact of work on parenting and how the two may be better balanced, can be most sensibly seen in relation to aspects of child’s functioning in the six areas outlined at the beginning of this paper. This is also where empirical evidence regarding the impact of parent’s condition or how they bring up their children is to be found.

•	Health – there is no evidence that parental employment has an adverse effect on children’s health. In balance, though, children who cannot be breast-fed in the first six month (among other reasons because of mother’s work commitments) for example, may be more susceptible to a range of physical difficulties later on. Indeed, the evidence is to the contrary, but for complex social and financial reasons.
•	Educational achievement – the evidence regarding impact of work on children’s achievement is mixed and far from conclusive. There is some evidence that younger, nursery school age children may do less well with working mothers and the older ones slightly better. Other findings are of small magnitude and not capable of being generalisable. On the other hand, during the past ten years when women’s entry into the labour market has accelerated the number of women in the UK who regularly read to their children daily has doubled. Given the generally improving educational attainments of British children during the past ten years or so, there is little reason to believe that children suffer educationally as a result of their parents working;
•	Secure attachments – these are the consequence of good parent-child relationships which encompass giving unconditional love, warmth and consistent care to the child, as well as avoiding abusive practices. They also reflect to some extend the stability of parent’s own relationship with each other. There is at present little research information available to throw light on the consequences, if any, of work pressures on parent-child relationship and secure attachment. On theoretical grounds, the focus ans qualify parenting in the three areas of care, control and development is likely to be the most influential intervening variable work and quality of relationship with the children;
•	Social skills – broadly the same comments as above can be made regarding development of social network and increased social competence, acquired through work, is likely to benefit the children;
•	Anti-social behaviour has been shown to be strongly associated with the quantity and contact of parent, child, face-to-face interaction. The more children, from puberty onwards, are left to their own devices, the more they are likely to get into trouble. There is a social class dimension to this, with the better off producing fewer children in trouble. The board finding, however, remains. Clearly, parents who remain focused on their children’s development and associated needs are better able to arm the child against diverting peer and cultural influences;
•	Mental health – this aspect has also been shown to be strongly associated with the quality of parent-child relationship and socioeconomic conditions. Work pressures on parents, to the extent that they modify the duration, quality and content of their face-to-face content with the child, will also affect children’s acquisition of psychological competence to deal with vagaries and demands of life. The recent large and long term Bristol study mentioned above, has shown that mothers’ working does not adversely affect the “activity level” and “emotional health” of their children.

The overall conclusion is, therefore, that parental employment presents both adverse pressures and positive opportunities for them as parents, and to their children as consumers of their parenting. The balance appears to be, for the moment neutral, though clearly there are wide variations dependent on individual family circumstances.

So what should be done?

•	It is clear that the trend towards greater employment of women in western societies will continue, unless special positive measures are taken to keep women at home – as recently in France, where women are to be paid to have children and to stay home to look after them;
•	To mitigate the negative impact of greater demands on women, their children and partners, measures have to be taken to cover different aspects, from the widest structural to the most individual micro-education of individual parents, where there are difficulties;
•	These measures include
-	significantly raised awareness of children’s needs and how they may be best met by working parents;
-	raised social profile of parenting, fitting in the wider social context and showing that the tasks and duties goes beyond just the parents. We need to promote the concept of a “parenting society”;
-	ensuring that employers, even if only in their own commercial interests, take account of their workers’ parenting commitments. Unhappy parents, full on anxiety about their children, do not make good workers;
-	much wider, more readily available, good quality and affordable child care, with increasing work-place crèches;
-	financial aid to new parents, both father and mother, to enable them to spend time with their children, beyond just the first year;
-	“employee assistance programmes” of the type that exist in the US, to provide professional assistance to parents who are having difficulties with their children;
-	convergence of school and work calendars to enable parents to spend time with their children;
-	legal enforcement of flexible working arrangements for parents;
-	greater push towards treating parents equally from the viewpoint of work place and employment legislation;
-	encouraging exploration of means for energising frequently deeply fatigued parents, to enable them to spend time together and alone away from the children;
-	re-evaluation and development of role of grandparents as sources of good child care help, to counter some of the adverse effects of parents’ working.

As is evident, the impact of work on parenting is complex and clearly dependent on the wider cultural pressures and the circumstances prevailing within each family. Since it is likely that the trend towards increasing employment of women will continue and may intensify, if is important to take measures at a variety of levels to facilitate parents’ working without too many adverse consequences for them of their children. Business enterprises should be encouraged to recognise that they are part of the wider social fabric and that their activities and requirements must not encroach unacceptably on the critical important tasks of parenting. It is wider society which pays the high costs of parenting. The ever greater encroachment of profit-driven market economy must be constrained by the fundamental an inescapable demands of “good enough parenting”, even in a global economy.

On the other hand, it is important to remember that parenting remains a primary focus for most people and that it has proved extraordinarily resilient in the face of change in economic and social circumstances. As it is not possible to freeze social conditions like a fly in amber, it is necessary to remain vigilant and attempt pre-emptive correction where possible and appropriate. The future welfare of society for which the quality of parenting is a chief prerequisite deserves no less.

Contact: masud.hoghughi@ntlworld.com

Selected reading

1.	Bornstein, M. (ed) (2002) Handbook of Parenting, N.J. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
2.	DTI (2003) Balancing Work and Family Life: enhancing choice and support of parents, London, Government publication
3.	Hoffman, L.W. & Youngblade, L.M. (1998) Mothers at work: Effects on Children’s wellbeing, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
4.	Hoghughi, M.S. & Long, N. (eds) (2003) Handbook of parenting: theory and research for practise, London, Sage (in press)
5.	Mailand, A. (2001) “The painful dilemma of kids and career”, London, Financial Times, 9 April
1.	
6.	Summerskill, B. (2003) “Why mothers deserve a break today”, London, The Observer, 30 March
7.	Wolke, D. (2003) Working Mums – the great debate, ALSPAC Study, The University, Bristol

Summary and Outlook to 2004

Summary:

The Chairperson of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family began his summing up by expressing the appreciation of the Committee to the Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection, for its co-operation and support in facilitating the organisation of the seminar. Appreciation was also extended to the protocol and conference staffs of the United Nations in Vienna, to the distinguished presenters and to the participants, who made such valuable contributions to the working groups, which were an integral part of the seminar, and in the discussions from the floor and last and not least, to the members of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family for their generosity of time in organising the seminar. He mentioned the positive feed-back from the participants, with regard to the high quality of the presentations and the various discussions, as well as for the opportunity to network, especially at the two receptions, at the invitation of the Austrian Federal Government and the City of Vienna.

He reminded the participants that the word ‘Compatibility’, and not ‘Incompatibility’ or ‘Reconciliation’ of Family and Business Life, was purposely chosen in the title of the seminar, to set a positive tone to the proceedings, whilst leaving it open to the deliberations to ascertain which was more appropriate.

The contents of the presentations addressed; (a) intra-familial  issues, such as the reflection within families of the affect of working parents on the well-being of  their children, with or without the support of the extended family; (b) intra-business issues such as company cohesion and the family and work audit, allowing reflection on the extent of the family-friendliness of the policies in place, and the documentation of the possible benefits to companies by accommodating  the needs of family members, with time always regarded as a resource; (c) inter-familial and business issues such as work life balance,  the role of civil society networks, as found in cross sectoral round tables, regarding families not as a problem, but as a source of great rewards for society in general, and in particular, as a further resource of company cohesion, with the concept of parenting being extended to the business community caring for families, and being doubly rewarded, firstly, though documented benefits, such as the reduction of both staff-turnover and their stress-levels, and secondly, being rewarded by new family friendly policy incentatives of governments. 

The emergence and need of a paradigmatical structural change was addressed, where couples have the opportunity themselves to make a conscious choice to have or not to have children and if so, how many, as there seems to be a long way to go to true gender equality, for the female, outside the family and for the male, within families, with more emphasis being given in the deliberations to the compatibility of business and family life as it affects the female.
It was further reflected that the issues addressed in the seminar did not sufficiently address the broader situation of families, but rather that of families living with various  systems of support, and not only, as is often the case, on the resources within families themselves.

Despite the obvious shortcomings of any three day seminar, it was felt that this was an opportunity for civil society, government and business representatives to sharpen their   awareness of family issues of common concern and to benefit from a cross-pollination of participants from a broad spectrum of society, as a further step in the debate, within preparations for the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Year of the Family (IYF) in 2004.

Outlook to 2004

The Chairperson recalled the fact that this international seminar was organised to celebrate the 9th International Day for Families and in preparation of the 10th Anniversary of IYF in 2004 and briefly outlined: (i) the preparations which the United Nations System is taking as well of those of (ii) civil society organisations and (iii) the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family. 

(i) United Nations System

A detailed account of the United Nations plans are available in United Nations document E/CN.5/2003/1 in the Report of the Secretary-General to the 41st Session of the Commission for Social Development in February 2003, which can be accessed on the United Nations Website at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/2003.htm 

The following are excerpts from the report: 

The launching of the 10th anniversary takes place in December 2003 at United Nations Headquarters. Activities planned are a message from the Secretary-General and a panel discussion in cooperation with concerned partners…. The Programme on the Family within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) will publish a study entitled “The global situation of families”….DESA also plans to publish a study entitled “Family Indicators” ….DESA has highlighted a positive message on “the family”, underlying the important socio-economic functions families perform….DESA has encouraged Governments to utilise the 10th anniversary as an occasion for policy review, 
reform and improvement….DESA is establishing an Inter-University Network to serve as a system of conduits of knowledge through which information will be provided to Governments, NGOs and academia…

Numerous entities of the United Nations system, including the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), as well as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have undertaken specific measures to prepare for and observe the anniversary of IYF in 2004.

DESA’s website:

(http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/family/index.html) including its bimonthly web-based circular Family Matters, is a further awareness source for the 10th anniversary.

(ii) Civil Society Organisations

The Chairperson of the Committee went on to outline a project and study by which the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (DESA) have agreed to set up an Interactive-Internet-Forum with the support of international NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) to prepare a report on (a) past and present projects carried out for families since 1994 by each international NGO: and (b) plans of each international NGO to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2004. Categories will be formed according to the substantive issues addressed by the INGOs, such as education, health promotion, and HIV/Aids. Search engines will seek out organisations clustered in these categories. Each participating organisation can make use of an interactive online conference and discussion board. Information specific to each of the participating organisations, can be updated by each organisation itself using a user identity code. (cf. Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the 41st session of the Commission for Social Development).

The Forum, at: www.10yearsIYF.org 
has been joined to date by over 70 INGOs accredited with (ECOSOC) from 27 countries in all 5 continents, including Angola, Austria, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Ireland, Italy, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Switzerland, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, U.S.A.

This will be an institution-building project, as it will facilitate the interaction of members of the network in various ways, as well as offering other non-member, interested organisations and individuals, the possibility to communicate directly with them. An automatic self up-dating statistical annex will offer a helpful overview of the data at hand.

(iii) Vienna NGO Committee on the Family

The above study is being carried out under the Chairmanship of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family with the support of the Programme on the Family within the DESA and is being funded, among others, by donations from the private sector and no financial costs will be involved for the participating organisations.

A sociological analysis of the data gathered in the Forum will be carried out in co-operation with the University of Kent at Canterbury in England, financed by the Committee, and will be both posted on the above website and become an integral part of a book to be published for projected sale at United Nations bookshops and for presentation to the delegations of Member States of the United Nations, to mark the opening of the 10th anniversary of IYF in December 2003 at the United Nations in New York. 

A similarly structured simultaneous study with family-oriented organisations at the national, local and grass-roots levels, in 8 Eastern African (EAC), 10 Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) and in the countries of the Iberian Peninsula, will be carried out, under the Chairmanship of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, harnessing the technology of the world-wide-web, to highlight the 10th Anniversary of IYF in 2004. This study of the contributions of over 150 Civil Society Organisations incorporates the three networks within EAC, CEEC and Iberian Countries as part of the website of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family at: www.viennafamilycommittee.org   

A sociological analysis will also be carried out with this data, which will further enable a beneficial and complimentary comparison of the contributions of an international network of INGOs, with networks in two continents, based primarily on local and national organisations. 

A 10th International Seminar, in a series of  International Seminars, organised by the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, since its inception in 1985, will be convened in 2004, with participating INGOs of the Forum, including experts on interactive-networking to both deepen the efficacy of the Forum, from which the various networks established by the Committee should also benefit, as well as highlight the 10th Anniversary of IYF in 2004 and celebrate the 10th International Day of Families in May 2004.
.
In conclusion, the Chairperson reported on further preparations of the Committee for 2004, as listed below in the Proposed Plan of Action, encouraged Civil Society Organisations to regard themselves as partners of Governments and International Organisations, and urged them not to regard themselves solely as advocates, in the search for solutions to issues affecting families. He closed the seminar by thanking all the participants for their contributions to the many aspects of the past three days and wished them well in their endeavours for the well-being of families world-wide.

Vienna NGO Committee on the Family
www.viennafamilycommittee.org

PROPOSED PLAN  OF  ACTION
                                                       10th  ANNIVERSARY  IYF  2004

AWARENESS BUILDING MEASURES

PRELIMINARY STAGE

1.	SPECIAL SECTION OF COMMITTEE HOMEPAGE ON PREPARATIONS FOR 2004 WITH HYPERLINK TO THE UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON THE FAMILY HOME PAGE 

2.	USE  OF COMMITTEE WEBSITE NETWORKS IN AFRICA AND CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES (CEEC) TO HIGHLIGHT 2004 THROUGH EMAIL REPORTS AND TO SEEK BRIEF STATEMENT FROM EACH MEMBER ORGANISATION OF THE NETWORKS ON THEIR PLANNED ACTIVIES SPECIFICALLY FOR 2004 TO BE POSTED ON THE COMMITTEE WEBSITE

3.	DISCERN THE POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION OF NGOs TO THE WELL-BEING OF FAMILIES SINCE IYF 1994 IN THE EASTERN AFRICAN NETOWRK OF KENYA, MALAWI, MOZAMBIQUE, UGANDA, SOMLIA, TANZANIA, ZAMBIA & ZIMBABWE AS WELL AS IN 10 CEEC COUNTRIES AND TO PUBLISH THE RESULTS ON THE COMMITTEE WEBSITE

4.	SET UP AN INTERACTIVE-INTERNET-FORUM WITH INGOS ACCREDITED WITH ECOSOC  AND DISCERN THE POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION OF CIVIL SOCIETY TO THE WELL-BEING OF  FAMILIES SINCE IYF 1994 AS WELL AS HIGHLIGHT THE PREPARATIONS OF THE ORGANISATIONS FOR THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF IYF IN 2004 (www.10yearsIYF.org)

5.	SPECIAL SECTION OF COMMITTEE QUARTERLY BULLETIN ‘FAMILIES INTERNATIONAL’ WITH UPDATES ON PREPARATIONS FOR 2004

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION BY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

1.	SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN INGO STATEMENT TO 40th, 41st and 42nd COMMISSIONS    FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN NEW YORK WITH A SECTION IN EACH STATEMENT RELATING TO THE 10th ANNIVERSARY

2.	PRESENTATION OF ORAL STATEMENTS AT CSDS BY REPRESENTATIVES OF MEMBER   ORGANISATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE WITH A FOCUS ON 10th ANNIVERSARY ISSUES

3.	PARTICIPATION IN PREPARATORY MEETINGS SET UP BY UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON THE FAMILY IN NEW YORK

4.	CELEBRATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR FAMILIES 2002 - 2004

5.	HIGHLIGHTING 2004 THROUGH INTERNATIONAL FORA AT THE TWICE YEARLY FULL  COMMITTEE MEETINGS OF THE COMMITTEE

Projects of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family are supported by:

•	Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Bäuerinnen in Niederösterreich
•	Austrian Federal Government 
•	Bank Austria
•	Berndorf Gruppe
•	Creditanstalt Bankverein
•	European Commission
•	Government of Germany
•	Government of Liechtenstein
•	Government of Luxembourg
•	Government of Spain, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands
•	INGOs
•	Niederösterreichische Landesregierung
•	Niederösterreichische Versicherungs AG
•	OMV
•	Shell Austria AG
•	Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment AG
•	Siemens
•	Rotary International
•	United Nations Trust Fund on Family Activities

'Families International' an information-sharing bulletin published by:
Vienna NGO Committee on the Family:
Brunngasse 12/2, A-3100 St. Pölten, Austria, Fax: 43-2742-35 27 18-5, 
e-mail: famcom.vienna@utanet.at, Web: http://www.viennafamilycommittee.org

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reflect the views of the members of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family. 

Editors: Editorial Committee: Peter Crowley, Eva Matt, Winston Sims.
Co-Editors: Eva Matt, Winston Sims.
Layout: Sylvia Harling