The Aspen Institute Kyiv held the second seminar “Family: Concept, Principles and Policy”: participants discussed the concept of family, its functions and transformation

The Aspen Institute Kyiv held the second seminar “Family: Concept, Principles and Policy” on October 11-13, 2024, as part of the program “Person, Family and Society”.

During the seminar, participants from various fields – business, media, government, and civil society – discussed the following issues:

• The differentiation of the concepts of “family” and “marriage” is not only a theoretical but also a practical necessity. Today, the definition of family affects legal aspects, property relations, public policy, and other areas. 
• The definition of the concept of “family” was discussed in more detail. It has become an interdisciplinary concept that requires attention not only from sociologists or demographers, but also from economists, politicians, veteran policy experts and others. This was especially evident during a full-scale war, when the family structure underwent substantial changes.
• The “classic” functions of the family, such as childbearing, upbringing, and caring for the future generation, are no longer exhaustive. Families choose adoption, or refuse to have children at all, or cohabit in other forms of partnership. Such changes require revision of family policy legislation to take into account modern realities.

The participants focused on the social challenges that are emerging today and will have a major impact in the future, particularly in the areas of demography, labor and human resources, and individual rights and freedoms.

Anton Drobovych, Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, and Volodymyr Fadieiev, Head of the Department of the H.S. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, moderated the dialog. Maryna Zakharova, Manager of the Human, Family and Society Program at the Aspen Institute Kyiv, coordinated the seminar.

The program ’Person, Family, and Society’ is implemented by The Aspen Institute Kyiv at the initiative of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Coordination Centre for the Development of Family Education and Child Care, with the support of the EU and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine.