Local alliances for the family: Reconciliation of work and family life

Host Country : Germany

Place and date : Berlin , 13. - 14.12.2004

Peer countries : Austria - Cyprus - Estonia - Hungary - Malta - Slovakia

In summer 2003 the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, in partnership with the Bertelsmann foundation, launched the "Alliance for the Family", in which the government, social partners, NGOs and other important stakeholders work together on a sustainable policy in favour of the family. This new co-operation between politicians, business and trade unions is based on the consensus that a higher birth rate, a higher labour market participation by women and the best education and training of children are needed to cope with the challenges of the demographic change and international competitiveness.

Various projects and studies within this alliance aim to improve the balance between work and family life. The strategy of the "Alliance for the Family" includes the following elements:

Feasibility studies and cost-benefit analyses aim to prove that family-friendly measures are more a matter of being ready to innovate than of investing a lot of money. It can be shown that for small and medium-sized companies the benefits of family-friendly measures are higher than the investment in such measures, even in difficult times for the economy.
Survey research allows us to monitor the state of family-friendliness in German companies as well as the kind of measures applied. Another survey among employees views family-friendliness as a location factor and points out a high demand for flexible working time arrangements.
Companies are asked to run a "Career and Family" audit, in which family-oriented measures can be evaluated and the potential for a further family-friendly development can be identified.
Companies can also participate in a competition in which the most family-friendly enterprises receive an award. This competition is partly financed by the European Social Fund.
In early 2004 the federal initiative "Local alliances for the family" was started. The target of this initiative is to strengthen a family-friendly atmosphere at the local level by facilitating co-operation and exchange of experience between companies, social organisations and municipalities. Within four months 52 local alliances joined the initiative. There is a great variety of starting points for improving the work-life-balance at local level. A service bureau has been established that currently supports 143 local alliances and actors intending to found a new local alliance. The initiative is financially supported not only by the government but also by the European Social Fund and private foundations.

Source: www.bmfsfj.de/Politikbereiche/Familie/familie-und-arbeitswelt and www.lokale-buendnisse-fuer-familie.de

Peer Review manager

Dr. Jürgen Schumacher ( INBAS Social Research )

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Local alliances for the family: Reconciliation of work and family life

Host Country : Germany

Place and date : Berlin , 13. - 14.12.2004

Peer countries : Austria - Cyprus - Estonia - Hungary - Malta - Slovakia

Peer Review manager

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