The importance and risks of the family in times of crisis
In times of economic crisis, the family continues to be paramount in our society, with strong family ties to help each other. A) Yes, The importance of the family in times of crisis is evidenced, but also has to face multitude of risks proper to this era.
With the crisis, there are many grandparents who have taken over the family economy or, at least, their help is essential to be able to "make ends meet". In addition, on many occasions young people see themselves caring for their elders, as evidenced by the latest report of the International Federation for the Development of Families and The Family Watch, published in February 2015, which tries to observe which would be the best tools to measure the effectiveness of government policies in the welfare of families.
The importance of family welfare
The The welfare of families is essential for the life of its members. In the text, the authors recall that the interest in well-being has focused in recent years on children, and that the UN does not in vain recognize the "primary responsibility "of the family in the care of children, that they must grow "within a family and in an environment of happiness, love and understanding".
Now, how do you measure that welfare of families and, therefore, of children? As the text explains, the economic income does not seem to be sufficient to know why some families face better circumstances than others, which shows that there are several risk factors.
In this sense, they say it would be useful "to reach a scientific consensus on how many or what aspects of people's lives should be considered essential for well-beingr "and mention for example the percentage of children living with married parents or in single-parent families.
Spain, at this point, appears well placed within the framework of the European Union. According to Eurostat data handled by this report, almost 84 percent of Spanish children live in families with their two married parents, being the fourth country in the European Union with the highest percentage, just behind Greece, Luxembourg and Slovakia.
The risks to the family
The report notes that one of the main risks of the family is, precisely, its disintegration (divorce or separation), something that "is not an isolated event", but implies different problems that occur both before and after the separation and that affect children in an important way.
The main risks that are the cause and consequence of divorces are, according to the research, the economic difficulties and the level of stress. In turn, economic difficulties carry with them a greater probability of Negative factors for the family (and children): poor housing, health problems, poor nutrition and less material resources for the education of children.
All this makes children have now greater risk of experiencing separation from parents, something negative if we take into account all the investigations that show how the conflicts of the parents have harmful effects for the children. Even so, the authors of the report are clear: many studies claim that you can reduce the negative impact of separations in children, so that policy makers should limit as much as possible those harmful consequences for the little ones.
Dangers for children
The separation of parents, as already said, may haveNegative consequences for children, especially motivated by the conflicts between the parents, but also by the life that comes after the separation. As the authors of the report argue, the studies that analyze educational outcomes, behavioral habits, mental health, self-esteem, social competence and children's health show important differences between those who have experienced separation from their parents and those who have not.
This, which also depends on other factors, is associated with the fact that children of separated parents have more risk of poverty, violence and bad parenting. In addition, the authors of the report mention that adults who were children of separated parents are more likely to have problems of mental health and well-being, such as drug use and problems in their emotional relationships.
However, studies also show, and the authors remember, that the negative effects of separations they do not have to last forever over time and that, in fact, in some cases these "transition periods" are advisable, since they suppose the end of a negative situation, as when there is violence between parents.
The strength of the family
The family is the basic union of our society and its importance and strength is clear. Although it is true that there is no agreement to design something like a "list" of family functions, there is no doubt that welfare "is a broad and complex contribution of the family" and that if families are able to fulfill their basic functions, will contribute to positive results both at the individual and social levels.
For this reason, the authors of the text remember thatIt is possible to help children cope with changes within the family To improve their skills and resilience, and for this purpose, they must design programs that are planned in such a way that they adjust to the strengths and weaknesses of the families to whom they are directed.
Angela R. Bonachera
