Family Voice

Are you interested in making your views heard? Join our Family Voice.
For more details please email us your details and we will be in contact with you.

The Family and Parenting Institute speaks to parents on a regular basis to seek their views on the issues that matter to them. Listening to parents is one of the ways we are able to give constructive ideas to government, policymakers and practitioners on how to improve both the environment in which families bring up their children and also the services that are offered to them.

We bring the voices of parents and families alive in our policy and consultations and present to them information and guides on topics that they inform us they want to hear.

Parents' Panel

Our Parents' Panel is made up of 250 parents from across the country. The panel is a sounding board for policy ideas and parenting tips. Panel members have been involved in consultations on the role of directors of children's services, research on learning and technology, and the setting up of the C4EO (Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services) Parents' and Carers' Panel.

Family Voice

Parents' Panel members gave us advice on our new venture, Family Voice, which is a means by which the Family and Parenting Institute can obtain more families' views online and offer them clear and impartial information. Family Voice is still in its pilot stage, but so far parents have commented on family finances and the commercial pressures on children. A snapshot survey revealed that the top topics mothers and fathers want to have more say about are family benefits and tax credits – and how they work in practice.

Parents on film

Parents' views on many aspects of current family policy were captured in a film produced for our Parent Child 2008 conference. The film, also called Family Voice, included the perspectives of parents from around England. Parents talked about the early years of their children's lives, how the commercial world affects them, family finances and the conflicting feelings of trying to keep their children safe at the same time as letting them develop independence.

 

Meet the parents

As well as seeking parents' opinions, we believe it is important for them to talk directly to politicians. Harriet Harman MP, Minister for Women and Equality, addressed parents' questions about breastfeeding in public and about flexible working. She wanted to know from parents what the Government could do to support couples to have more children.

Last updated: 6th October 2009 at 02:10:02