Family town with a future
The family city with a future model project is based on an initiative by the State of Hesse . The aim of the pilot project is to collect experiences of municipal approaches for a family policy of the future in municipalities with between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabitants over a period of ten years .
The aim of the project is to research the effects of family policy measures on the climate for starting families and on the generative behavior of the resident population. 33 Hessian cities have applied to participate in the model project. The cities of Büdingen ( Wetteraukreis ) and Frankenberg ( Waldeck-Frankenberg district ) were selected for the model project . The state of Hesse is funding each of the cities over 10 years with an amount of 5 million euros. The projects each began with a survey of relevant population groups.
The decade-long low birth rate and the increasing aging of the population are decisive for this development . In Hesse, the birth rate is 1.36 children per woman, which leads to a shrinking population in Hesse. By 2050, the population of Hesse can be expected to decrease to 5.5 million, which corresponds to a decrease of ten percent compared to 2003.
Selection criteria
The evaluation was based on the following criteria:
- The integration of the concept into a city- wide development strategy must be given.
- Innovative measures (not just standard measures) must be named.
- The target group of families with one or two children must be clearly stated in the concept. Couples without children and young people are on an equal footing with them.
- The individual measures must be sustainable beyond the duration of the project.
- One focus must be the compatibility of family and work with the participation of business.
- Family-related civic engagement must already exist in the municipality.
- If a high proportion of personnel costs was settled in the project financing, this had a negative effect on the evaluation.