The depth of relationships between family members, friends and within society can contribute to improving our quality of life.
The family is the primary social context within which the closest and most important relationships are created. It is the main source of tangible and emotional support and, in Italy in particular, it plays a central role, not only because of cultural reasons and tradition, but also because it often has to compensate for the shortfalls of the public welfare system.
The significant demographic and social transformations that developed countries have undergone during the last ten years have contributed to changing the structure of the family and the shape of family relationships enormously. The idea of the family is moving ever further away from the traditional model and is becoming fragmented and lacking in proper structure. The continuing low fertility rates, the tendency amongst young people to put off creating a family of their own, the ageing population and the lack of stability within marriages have all led to an increase in the number of people living alone and of childless couples. Besides all this, the fact that more and more women are working is also having a significant impact on family life as it requires time, workloads, and responsibilities to be reorganised and shared and therefore changes the nature of intra- and inter-generational relationships.
Grandparents can provide help with looking after children if the parents have to go out to work, while they are still in good health at least; when elderly grandparents' health deteriorates and leaves them unable to care for themselves however, it is the children who then take care of the parents. If we take into account the fact that in a family care for an elderly family member often falls upon the wife-mother-daughter-daughter-in-law, who nowadays has to share her time ever more between work and family, then the outlook for the future is increasingly unsustainable.
Families which include disabled people or elderly people who are no longer self-sufficient, as well as families with less of a robust structure, such as single-parent families or single people living alone, tend to be the ones which are the most vulnerable and require the most help.
There is a great amount of solidarity between families in Veneto, more so than in other regions; all of the North-East of Italy stands out for the willingness and availability families show towards helping each other, which confirms the central role played by the family as a point of reference and focus for relationships.
Besides the family, the networks of friends, acquaintances and neighbours, as well as social participation, extending to community life, are also extremely important.
(Chapter 3 in figures)