Last Wednesday, members of the Save the Children organization appeared at the Congress of Deputies to claim longer maternity and paternity leave, telecommuting and flexibility in working hours.
And you know why? Until now, the main beneficiaries of conciliation policies have not been children, but parents or businesses. Nowadays many families are not in a position to offer their children the time and attention they require to cover all your emotional and social needs. The little ones are very vulnerable little people and in need of a lot of care when they are little and a lot of attention when they are older. We have all heard of that African proverb that prays 'to take care of a child you need an entire tribe'; and if it is difficult to raise and educate when the father and mother do not have an extensive family network, we can imagine the helplessness that children will feel in the absence of one (or both) of their parents.
Currently there are many children who do not see their parents even when they finish their extracurricular or reinforcement classes at six or seven in the afternoon. It is increasingly common for children with seven, eight or nine years to have house keys and return aloneOf course, in most cases it is not a situation that parents favor, but also those who accuse him the most are the children. Probably the consequences of these situations can be mitigated when natural social networks (neighbors, traditional neighborhoods of cities, small municipalities) have been established, but support is not always available.
Children need to be with their parents to grow up healthy and happy.
Whose responsibility is the care and education of children?
Many families are not in a position to offer their children the time and attention they need to cover all their emotional and social needs. Ensuring the proper care and education of children must be a shared social responsibility, which commits not only to parents, but also to public authorities and companies.
From Save the Children the exercise of positive parentality is defended, as the best way to ensure the welfare of children and to train future adult citizens, responsible and committed to society. To do this, of course, parents should have more time with their children.
Congress has been asked to review and improve the rules and policies of conciliation and co-responsibility in Spain from the perspective of childhood needs. Encouraging social and labor conditions that allow parents to find a balance between work and family life is a way to protect children and ensure their maximum well-being and adequate development, as well as a way to prevent violence against children. .
Solutions based on a rational balance between the interests of companies, public administrations and families should be sought, especially protecting those families that are at greater risk of vulnerability, such as large families, single parents, with parents or mothers with disabilities, with multiple adoptions, foster care or with members with disabilities
How to ensure the welfare of the little ones?
The Childhood Plan recently approved by the Government includes measures aimed at promoting work and family reconciliation. Likewise, the Government has announced that the next Family Support Plan will include measures to promote positive parentality as a backbone of childhood and family policies.
Today millions of Spanish families are far from enjoying the ideal conditions that allow them to give children the emotional stability and care they need.
Together with large-scale economic and social measures that respond to the growing problem of poverty in Spain, it is more necessary than ever develop conciliation and co-responsibility policies that guarantee the well-being of children, favor good treatment and help prevent violence against children.
I hope that none of the political leaders in our country forget that a stable and continuous emotional relationship with parents has a positive effect on children's development. And that the so-called Childhood Plan is really developed through concrete projects and measures, that is, it is not in 'wet paper'.
Source | Save the Children More information | Family and work life reconciliation report in Spain In Peques y Más | All the rights of workers to reconcile family and work life, how the labor reform affects the reconciliation of family life
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