On the occasion of the UN International Day of Families 2021 dedicated to the relationship between families and new technologies, an international conference, "Family-responsive policies in the Digital Era", was held in Warsaw on 15 May, with the participation of Francesco Belletti, Director of CISF and Head of Research of the Family International Monitor.
Several themes emerged during the meeting. One of the central topics was the relationship between work and families. Prof. Michał Michalski, from the University of Poznam, presented a survey showing how entrepreneurs are gradually paying more and more attention to the issue of reconciling family and working life. According to the study, two thirds of companies adopt family-friendly measures. It is indicative, however, that even those businesses that do adopt such policies do not communicate them effectively, almost as if they do not perceive them as a useful and virtuous choice.
Much work still needs to be done to implement fully adequate family-friendly policies, particularly on flexible working hours and facilitating maternity and paternity leave. Very few women are able to work part-time in Poland, because this type of working time has no place in a working world that is fossilised in the idea of full-time work.
Another key point of the conference was the discussion on public interventions to regulate digital within families. As CISF pointed out, governing such a sudden change as occurred during the digital revolution is particularly complex. Digital did not just happen, it happens, it is constantly evolving and changing seamlessly. All spheres have been pervaded and changed by this revolution and its side effects cannot be ignored: intergenerational gaps in learning and the use of new technologies are just one of many. In this context, family relationships are also being reconfigured to some extent.
Watch the full event
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