The rEUsilience project, funded by the European Union and with the involvement of the IGOP-UAB, was selected to be part of the European Commission's "Success Stories" section in recognition of its impact on the development of inclusive and resilient policies.
Europe faces major challenges: an ageing population, financial insecurity, increasing inequalities, and the evolving labour market. However, the political debate often focuses on individuals and overlooks a fundamental factor: families. The vast majority of people live within a family, which means that their capabilities and resources depend largely on these close networks.
The rEUsilience project has identified the main obstacles that limit family resilience, highlighting the lack of access to resources and the "double disadvantage" faced by many families: those most vulnerable in the new labour market are often those least able to adapt to changes.
The project, launched in 2022 and with a budget of €2.3 million, is made up of a consortium of research teams from six European countries: Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. These teams are co-led by Stockholm University (Sweden) and the University of Oxford (United Kingdom). The team from the Institute of Government and Public Policy (IGOP-UAB) is made up of Margarita León (principal investigator), Ivan Cerrillo, Aina Roca, and Charlotte Fernández.
The project, which is set to end in August 2025, has gone a step beyond academic research to transform its findings into concrete actions. To this end, it has created an innovative policy lab that brings together families, family organisations, and policymakers. Its goal is to design strategies and solutions to ensure that all European families have the support they need to thrive in a constantly changing world.
Among its initiatives, rEUsilience is developing policies to facilitate family life transitions and creating a comprehensive model of family support services. In addition, researchers analysed demographic databases to improve household classification and designed a new survey that could be incorporated into European Union analysis tools.
The project's impact goes beyond research: its work seeks to consolidate social policies and the work of public and non-profit organisations to ensure that no family is left behind. According to the research team, if their recommendations are taken into account, the work-life balance for many families can be improved, allowing their members to actively participate in European society and the economy.
