Traditional families in Europe: how the children of the EU live
Numerous studies highlight how important it is that Children grow up in a happy family. However, there are different forms of families, and not all European children live in families with their two married parents. Do you know in which countries of the European Union there are more children living in traditional families?
According to Eurostat data used in the latest report of the International Federation for the Development of Families and The Family Watch, changes in families are not as drastic as it may seem; in fact, the traditional family continues to be the main education environment for children in Europe: 73.8 percent of them live with their two married parents.
The countries in which more children live in the traditional family
Spain is one of the countries in which more children live with their two married parents: 83.9 percent of them. We are only ahead in this aspect Greece (with 91.8 percent of children living with their two parents), Cyprus (89 percent), and Slovakia (84.9 percent).
On the opposite side are the countries where the fewest children live within the traditional families: Estonia, with only 54 percent of the children living with their married parents, and Sweden, where the percentage is 54.4 percent.
The report also points out the percentage of children in Europe who live with two living parents, those who live with a single parent and those who are being raised without their parents. A) Yes, in Spain, 7.8 percent of children live with two parents who are not married, and 7.1 percent with only one parent.
All this, according to the authors of the text, causes them to increase the risks of children, because when parents only cohabit, "they tend to have a more disadvantaged social profile and a higher risk of instability than married families." As far as single-parent families are concerned, they "tend to have a significantly worse financial situation", which increases their chances of having bad housing, health problems, poor nutrition, etc.
These risks they are higher in those countries where there are more children being raised with cohabiting families: Sweden (27.3 percent of children), Estonia (22.9 percent) and France (21 percent of children live with parents who are not married).
On the other hand, Ireland is the country where more children are being raised with only one father, with 23.2 percent of children. This is followed by Estonia (21.4 percent) and the United Kingdom, where 20.8 percent of children live with only one parent.
All this shows that European children are now more likely to experience separation from parents, having a single parent or being part of a rebuilt family. The authors of the report call attention to this to ask policy makers to take into account the impact that these negative experiences may have for minors, and that is why the promotion of family stability and ways to limit the negative effects are the most important. of cases such as divorces or separations.
Angela R. Bonachera
