Parenthood can be difficult at the best of times, particularly when trying to balance the demands of a job. Without close family members to help with childcare, stress can build up very quickly.

That is why the Redesigning Activities in a Family Friendly wAy in VitErbo’s workpLaces (RAFFAEL) project was such a great relief to families in the Viterbo Province of Italy. With funding from the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), the project provided families with the support they needed for a healthy work-life balance.

The project offered a free family hotline service for arranging, for example, dropping off and picking up children at school and afternoon activities, delivering groceries and medicine, booking visits and appointments, and offering babysitting support. Serena mentions how this service helped her: ‘Our children benefited from the family hotline service, which was really supportive […]. we live in a quite remote area and could not drop off and pick up children for work reasons.’

The project’s babysitting support allowed families to meet the demands of an active working lifestyle, while ensuring children received excellent childcare. For Fabio and his partner, this was invaluable: ‘The weekly baby-sitting support should be offered as a standard service to double career families because it provides concrete help to working parents, whilst at the same time supporting education and care for children.’

During the COVID-19 pandemic, RAFFAEL proved to be an essential source of support for many families in the Viterbo Province. Sonia, who moved to Viterbo from Tunisia, had difficulty finding support to help with her daughter’s school assignments. She felt her language ability wasn’t strong enough to help her and is thankful the RAFFAEL project was there to help during the pandemic: ‘With the constant and professional at-distance homework support, my daughter improved her school performances and our whole family could benefit from more time together.’

The RAFFAEL project supported 100 families across the Viterbo Province to enjoy a healthier work-life balance.