For what family?” ” ” “

“Reflection on the family urgently needs to be revived, to bring home to the young that the family is not a confessional reality, but a valid anthropological model and an irreplaceable human resource. The family founded on marriage is a precious asset for the whole of society because it is the most reliable way of educating children in stability and creating strong links between the generations”. Convinced of this is Archbishop André Vingt-Trois of Tours and president of the French episcopate’s Commission for the family, who, in a comment to SirEurope, has expressed his appreciation for the family policies adopted for years in his country, but at the same time makes the point: “The State has demonstrated its willingness to support maternity, but that is not exactly the same as a willingness to support the family. Any form of cohabitation under the same roof is called a family”. Ten measures for families. Only recently the French Minister for the Family, Christian Jacob, spoke about the “right to maternity and to the education of children” and the “promotion of the freedom of parents to have all the children they wish”. Intervening at the 9th International Day of the Family on “Family: a challenge for Europe”, held in Rome on 15 May, Jacob outlined the recently approved provision, with the title “Ten measures for families”. The document was drawn up at the end of the “Conférence de la famille” for 2003, the annual consultation between the Government and the representatives of the family associations, held in April. Under the terms of the document, the French State, already among the most advanced in Europe (tax relief is provided for each child, as well as generous benefits for mothers who decide to give up their job or choose part time instead), pledges, among other things, to finance the creation within three years of 20,000 new kindergarten places and to assume 60% of the tax contributions paid by those firms that adopt provisions in favour of their employee’s children. Also provided are a one-off credit for low-income families of 800 euros for the birth of each child and family benefits of 160 euros per month during the child’s first three years of life. “Over one billion euros for children born after 1st January 2004 in approximately 200,000 families”, summed up the minister. What family model? France is the European country with the highest birth rate: 1.9 children per woman. The statistic is not matched, however, by an equally resilient situation of the family. At the present time, in fact, 42% of children are born out of wedlock. Nor does the French system draw any distinction, in granting benefits, between married couples, cohabiting couples or couples linked by the so-called contract of solidarity and cohabitation (Pacs) introduced by the Jospin government in 1999. This is an ethical neutrality that is a matter of concern to Archbishop Vingt-Trois because “it minimises the public and social relevance of the family based on marriage”. A proof of this, he remarked, is “the intention expressed in recent days by President Jacques Chirac, on the occasion of the award of medals to the ‘mothers of big families’ – a long-standing tradition in France – to rapidly revise the criteria for the award of this honour”. So not only married women, but also unmarried mothers and cohabiting women, will henceforth be eligible for the award of “the medal of ‘mothers of big families”. “The State’s willingness to support the birth and education of children, according to French culture and tradition since the second world war, is commendable”, comments the president of the Commission for the Family. “But what cannot be shared is the implicit recognition that any form of cohabitation should enjoy the same rights as those of the family created by a man and a woman united in matrimony. The issue is controversial, and is being fiercely debated between the family associations of Catholic inspiration and those of secular origin in France”.