Dr Consuelo León, Director of the Family Policies Observatory in the IESF, participated in a round table organised by the UN’s Family Platform for Catalonia on 3 November in the Palau Macaya building in Barcelona. The topic this discussion of experts focused on was: "The demographic future of Catalonia: what is in store and how will we deal with it?
Experts from institutions dedicated to the study of the family, demography and civil society representatives each presented their demographic and anthropological predictions for the next few years. They discussed aspects such as the ageing population, caused by greater life expectancy and lower birth rates, and they shared a critique of the lack of action from governments when applying measures and aid which would necessarily alleviate a sustained decrease in the Catalan population.
In her talk the expert from UIC Barcelona specifically discussed how the Third Sector is taking on the task of caring for the family, which is a task normally assigned to the state: At the same time she placed special emphasis on the lack of sustainability of the society we live in, if a productive model and policies based on a good work-life balance are not implemented.
