Regina Maroncelli, president of ELFAC, was invited to speak at the study visit “Demography and LRAs, navigating challenges and opportunities”, organized by the European Committee of Regions (CoR) and Pest Region in Budapest, on December the 3rd.
Mrs Maroncelli described the demographic situation in Europe, where less than 28% of households have children under 18. “No wonder that such a small slice of population attract very little attention from politicians” said Elfac’s President. who spoke to an audience of local authorities form 10 different European countries, underling the role of large families in the demographic challenges.
The impact of denatality
“Only 3% of all households have 3 and more children, still more than 1/4 of EU children live in a large family: the disappearance of these kind of families is leading to a drastic reduction of total fertility rates, of children and youth.”
The impact of denatality is turning Europe into a less and less important entity in the global arena: in 2100 Europe will represent less than 4% of the global population.
As a possible solution to the challenges linked to the demographic changes, ELFAC’s president presented the European Network of Family Friendly Municipalities. Born in 2018 thanks to the Trentino Province, the city of Alghero and the European Confederation of Large Families, it counts today 158 municipalities from 10 European countries and 3 national Networks. To join the European Network , municipalities can apply, meeting at least 5 out the 10 minimum criteria required.”I am sure that most of the cities here today can easily apply: but we ask a strong commitment of the Mayor to direct all the municipalities policies to the wellbeing of families”.
The meeting was organised by Mr Ádám Karáksony, Vice-President of the General Assembly of Pest Region and CoR rapporteur. The study visit intended to introduce the demographic issues into the debate of local territories.
Among the speakers, Ms Katalin Kardosné Gyurkó, Ministerial Commissioner of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, and former president of NOE (the Hungarian Large Families Association), and Ms Tünde Fűrész, President of Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families, who talked about “Current demographic trends and challenges in the EU and Hungary”, Mr Csaba Borboly, CoR rapporteur, Vice-President of Harghita County Council, Ms Christa Schweng, Rapporteur of EESC, and Mr Andrés Fuentes, Head of Unit of OECD.