European Large Families Confederation
ELFAC
The objectives of the Confederation shall be to represent the social and economic interests of families with children, in general, and large families, in particular, as the most appropriate environment for bringing up children, integrating them into society, and providing mutual support and solidarity among generations; as well as the promotion, development and unity of the movement of large family organizations in Europe.
ID: 92876453439-40
Lobbying Activity
Response to Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness
10 Nov 2025
The European Large Families Confederation (ELFAC) welcomes the European Commissions initiative to develop a comprehensive strategy for intergenerational fairness. We agree that the incorporation of an intergenerational perspective is fundamental to developing sustainable solutions for the complex issues facing the EU. ELFAC, however, would like to underscore the importance of family within this dialogue. Notably absent from the European Commissions initiative approach family is arguably the most important societal vessel for intergenerational collaboration. Declining birth rates and an aging population are both large-scale issues that fall into the scope of this initiative, threatening to topple pension and social welfare systems. This phenomenon is not only a byproduct of policy deficits, it is additionally representative of a cultural shift towards individuality. Crises related to housing, childcare, and affordable living have exacerbated an already problematic societal shift, in which family has been neglected in favor of individual and career interests. Demographic change is one of the most pressing intergenerational issues facing the EU. Inconsistencies in generation size mean that pension funding for older generations will be scarce, while increasing taxation and workforce burdens fall on younger generations. Family is the ideal vessel to facilitate intergenerational awareness across societies, as the family structure naturally connects individuals of vastly different age groups. The critical position of family in securing Europes future cannot be ignored. As recognized within the summary it is the younger generation that will bear the impact for todays decisions. We argue that there is no better way to account for that reality than the direct incorporation of youth voices. Through our Better Future Festival Project, a year-long initiative funded by the European Commission's CERV Program, ELFAC brought together youth from a number of different EU municipalities and facilitated the creation of youth manifestos, documents which expressed the vision for the future held by European youth. Our recommendations on this strategy are threefold: 1. ELFAC calls on the European Commission to highlight family as a key component of its strategy. The idea of intergenerationality cannot be de-coupled from the family system, and similarly, the core role of family in fostering intergenerational awareness and dialogue cannot be ignored. The inclusion of family perspectives and family-friendly policy are fundamental to the success of this initiative. 2. ELFAC recommends that the European Commission provide active platforms for youth inclusion in the policymaking process, giving younger generations the opportunity to advocate for themselves, as opposed to deciding what they want and need without consultation. Intergenerational fairness cannot be achieved without recognition of the disproportionate burden that is placed on younger generations, making their voices necessary in this dialogue. 3. ELFAC would suggest that the European Commission take active steps to account for the diversity of European countries when developing a tool to monitor intergenerational fairness, recognizing that fairness may take different forms when contextualized within the unique demographic reality experienced by each EU country. We suggest that family, and by extension the family friendliness of policy, be accounted for within this metric. Shaping an EU that is adaptable and able to tackle complex challenges requires first unifying the EU, not only through congruency in policy, but through breaking down barriers between generations and fostering effective intergenerational discussion. ELFAC ultimately argues that this process is best facilitated through intergenerational forums for discussion, the most natural of which is the family system.
Read full responseResponse to EU Civil Society Strategy
18 Jun 2025
The European Large Families Confederation (ELFAC) represents national associations of large families across Europe, advocating for public policies that promote the social and economic interests of families with three or more children. The Confederation strongly supports the European Commissions intention to develop a comprehensive EU Civil Society Strategy, as meaningful engagement with civil society organizations (CSOs) is essential to building strong and inclusive community environments. Our members play a key role in civil society, contributing to the democratic process by representing large families. However, to construct an effective Civil Society Strategy that meets the EUs goals, two important challenges faced by CSOs representing large families must be addressed. These include the lack of a specific law to recognize European large family associations at the transnational level and the minimal recognition of family organizations' role in protecting human rights. It is important to note that large family associations at the national level follow their respective countrys laws. This can lead to significant differences in how they represent the interests of their citizens. Despite their tremendous contributions to community well-being and democratic participation, national large family organizations often face structural barriers that hinder their full involvement in EU-level policymaking. ELFAC calls on the European Union to enact a specific law that recognizes European large family associations at the transnational level, not just the national level. Further, establishing and approving rules that create cohesion among the budgets, finances, and activities of all associations will improve these CSOs role as key stakeholders in shaping the practices and policies of the European Union. To construct an effective and inclusive Civil Society Strategy, the Commission must consider this suggestion. It is also important to note that despite their contributions, European large family organizations are frequently overlooked in EU-level policymaking and civil society engagement. The EU Civil Society Strategy must address this gap by explicitly recognizing the family perspective, as well as the significant social and economic benefits that large families provide. While grants and structural support are regularly allocated to civil society groups working on human rights, family organizations do not currently receive funding at a level that will offer continued support for the individual efforts of these organizations. For the EU Civil Society Strategy to be wholly effective, this imbalance must be corrected to support the work of large family associations across Europe. Establishing a legal framework to recognize transnational family associations, as well as ensuring equal access to funding among large family associations, are incredibly important steps toward building an impactful Civil Society Strategy.
Read full responseResponse to Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030
4 Jun 2025
It is essential for the EU to consider policies that will not adversely impact mothers, especially considering the fundamental right of a mother to choose the number of children she wishes to have. One aspect of improving gender equality is limiting the gender employment gap, which the EU claims should fall to its 2019 level. Further, to raise the EUs current Gender Quality Index from 71, it is claimed that increasing womens participation in the labor market is essential to meet this goal. To facilitate an improvement in the gender employment gap, mothers of children must be provided with adequate opportunities and resources to strengthen the relationship between female labor force participation and fertility rates. One relevant legal basis for this proposed solution is Articles 153 and 157 of the Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which require Member States to apply the principle of equal pay to men and women for equal work. If women are paid in proportion to the quality of their work within the labor market, this will likely result in improved fertility rates. This directly contributes to improving gender equality by allowing women to work while raising the number of children they wish their families to have. Several EU member countries, including France, demonstrate the relationship between female labor market participation and fertility rates. However, France exhibits both higher female labor participation and fertility rates because of the policies it has implemented to support the ability of parents to raise several children at home. Achieving equal participation of women in the economy and society at large is suggested to be associated with better economic and societal outcomes. It is also essential for the EU to consider policies that acknowledge the invisible work of mothers who take care of their children at home. The invisible work of mothers includes caring for children, teaching children, and ultimately raising them to be members of society. However, this work is not recognized as a contribution to the overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries within the European Union. The European Large Families Confederation (ELFAC) is pushing to include the domestic work of women within the overall GDP evaluation because of its direct impact on the quality of human capital. For example, a parents decision to leave the labor market and spend time taking care of children should be counted as a contribution to human capital because of its direct impact on a childs eventual contribution to society as an adult. Taking into account the health of this sector and its complementary contribution to a countrys GDP is necessary for mothers and parents to be recognized for their invisible work of raising children. We call on the European Union to recognize the work of mothers and parents at home, as supporting mothers in their choices to raise their desired number of children without limitation will directly improve the level at which mothers feel they can participate in the labor market. This is a fundamental aspect to consider when addressing gender inequality, as an increase in female participation in the labor market is an important factor in achieving the European Unions stated goal to limit the existing gender gap between male and female participation in the labor market, improving gender equality.
Read full response17 Aug 2023
The European Large families Confederation (ELFAC) gathers 23 large families associations from 22 European countries. A large family is the family with 3 or more children. Although we represent only a little share of households, in our houses live a very large part of European children (around 1/3). So, it is very important that every research concerning income and living conditions takes into account households with more than the 1-2 children. There's very little litterature on large families, they are almost invisible to statistics and sociologysts (the first and last European research about large families, "Families and society", was conducted in 2013/2017), but we do exist and we do need to be counted so that our perspective and our needs can be taken into account. Let me also underline that there's a big difference between a 3 child households and a 5 or 10 one. They might be a statistically-not-relevant situations, but those 5, 10 or even 16 children have the same rights to be taken into account as any single child. It would be very important and interesting to see how living conditions change according to the number of children (any number, from 1 to ...) Thank you for your attention, we would be happy to cooperate through our network www.elfac.org
Read full responseMeeting with Dubravka Šuica (Vice-President)
19 Jan 2021 · The situation of large families in Europe
Response to European Child Guarantee
6 Oct 2020
In Europe, only 1/3 of households have children. 16,4% of couples with no children are in poverty, 30,9% of couples with 3 and more children are in poverty. Having (more) children is a poverty risk factor.
ELFAC -the European Large families Confederation - welcomes and supports the European Child Guarantee (ECG). For the first time, Europe reserves a special measure for children, which are the most vulnerable part of society. In Europe 4 out of 10 children live in poverty and social exclusion: it is time for the European Union to take care of them as the most important, valuable, sustainable and productive investment a society can do. The ECG represents a new awareness of an aging and shrinking Continent, a tool to reach equity among Countries and within each Nation.
According to ELFAC, the EGC is a great opportunity for:
1. combating child economic, cultural and relational poverty;
2. putting the well-being of children and their development at the agenda of European and national policies;
3. promoting the growth and development of all children, including the most disadvantaged groups, providing fair opportunities for all.
For this reason, it should be taken into consideration that:
- The best place to raise a child is his/her family and his/her well-being depends on that of his/her family.
- Recent reports from UN DESA also underline that fighting child poverty means fighting the poverty of the families with children, providing them with (economic, cultural, services, work) tools to get out of the vicious circle of poverty. Family is recognized as a key factor to achieve global goal n. 1, fighting poverty. Families should not be ignored when drafting the EGC.
- The best way to combat poverty is to prevent it: the EGC should not only have a care/repair function aimed at families with children in financial difficulties. It should not be a welfarism social measure but a supportive investment on human capital. The EGC could represent a set of structured measures addressing poverty in all its aspects and should be universal so that every would-be parent can look at the possibility of having the children they want without fearing the risk of poverty that having a child entails today. In this sense, the EGC could envisage compensatory measures with respect to the costs of raising and educating children (for example, through a tax system that recognizes parents' expenses for education, housing, caring and health of their children).
- The EGC could consist of an economic recognition ( a fiscal one, or a sum of money per child as it is recognized in Poland) but also the establishment of a fund to make territories "child-friendly" and "family-friendly", guaranteeing (through the EGC) services for the birth and harmonious development of the child in the community, such as: birth points, maternity counselling centers, family centers, play areas, training for couples, parents, grandparents, kindergartens, care services, parks, green areas, cycle paths, protected home-school routes, cultural events and services, sports services, proximity care services (‘tagesmutter’, quarter nurses, co-housing...), school, transport...The ECG will be built up with the collaboration of the vice-presidency for Demography, but also her colleagues that are in charge of the environment, regions and rural areas, providing funds and policies to make municipalities more family (and children) friendly.
The Child Guarantee calls for a broader strategic vision on children that goes well beyond the great ambition to combat child poverty. It should promote the well-being of children -of all children, no one excluded- while taking into account the child in an holistic, inclusive way.
Even if children are present in only 1/3 of households in Europe, they should be the main concern of the whole society: as the old African motto says, it takes a whole village to raise a child. It's time to make Europe a better place for our children.
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