rEUsilience is a three-year international research project that aims to determine what makes families more resilient, and what makes it difficult or impossible to develop resilience. Greater resilience means that a family is better able to respond to risks related to paid work (e.g. low or irregular income, insecure employment, long working hours, etc.) in a way that mitigates their potentially negative effects. In addition to paid work, risks can also be related to increased caregiving needs within the family (for children, elderly, people suffering from serious conditions, people with disabilities, etc.). Changes in caregiving and/or paid work responsibilities can lead to situations that require families to adapt in some way, e.g. changes in the workload or schedule, the need to reorganize caregiving within the family, the need to change the amount or division of responsibilities among family members, the need for additional education to increase income, etc. In such situations, it is often necessary to weigh the pros and cons of different options and make difficult decisions that can have a short- or long-term impact on the family’s daily life. Resilience is, among other things, influenced by different types of resources (e.g. help from neighbours or civil society organisations, social assistance, own land for growing food, etc.), as well as the ways in which families use these resources. Differences in the level of resilience between families contribute to the development of economic and social inequalities. The research segment of the project will focus on the risks that families face in relation to paid work and care, the resources available to them and how they use them to cope with these risks, and the role that social policies play in this.

Since the project is internationally designed, the research is being carried out in six countries that are very different from each other: Belgium, Spain, Croatia, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The research consists of an analysis of existing data collected through surveys and field research in the form of group discussions (focus groups) with family members. The research results will then be analysed comparatively, in order to determine what risks and socio-economic problems families across Europe face and how they cope with them in different social contexts. In addition, it will be analysed how public (social) policies, which vary greatly between the countries, influence this. In particular, the subject of the analysis will be how inclusive the policies are, to what extent they allow for flexibility and how complementary they are to each other. The ultimate purpose of the analyses is to provide a basis for the development of concrete proposals (tailored to the needs of families in each individual country) for new social policies or for changes to existing ones, in order to help families better cope with the challenges they face.

In addition to the research segment, the project also envisages a social policy laboratory. These two segments are linked by their common goals and the exchange of work results between them. The aim of the project designed in this way is for research to have a prepared path to achieve social impact. Within the social policy laboratory, citizens and experts will be involved in analysing social policies and solving problems, and other methods will also be used, e.g. simulations, to test the effectiveness of possible new solutions.

The project’s outcomes will include:

  • an overview of the levels and types of risks faced by families in Europe
  • a series of dynamic analyses of family behaviour in specific situations involving risks
  • statements from families themselves on how they view risks and how they balance paid work and care within the family
  • critical reviews of social policies such as benefits, care leave and flexible working arrangements, and policies on early childhood education and care and long-term care
  • an innovative questionnaire on family resilience that can be applied at EU level
  • a series of proposals for social policies and guidance on their implementation