This qualitative study gathers the experiences of families from Álava, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa, representing diverse realities and municipalities. It also incorporates contributions from experts and the perspectives of children and adolescents. The aim is to foster a more comprehensive understanding of family stress, recognizing it as a phenomenon influenced by personal, familial, community, institutional, and structural levels.
The report confirms that many families describe persistent stress linked to a fast pace, task saturation, and the difficulty of juggling everything. This burden impacts coexistence, emotional well-being, and sometimes parenting styles, leading to more conflicts, less patience, and reduced quality shared time.
The study identifies internal factors such as accumulated fatigue, mental and emotional overload, unequal distribution of tasks and care, and the challenge of managing boundaries and autonomy during adolescence. External factors highlighted include time scarcity due to insufficient work-life balance, academic load, the influence of technology and social media, and structural issues like inadequate housing and lack of social support for parenting.
“"Our commitment is to support families with clear, accessible, and useful resources, and to strengthen a support network that reduces overload and improves well-being."
The Department will promote actions aimed at fostering family well-being, preventing high stress situations, and supporting families experiencing overload. These include publishing a practical guide for families, promoting positive parenting and childcare support programs, strengthening community support spaces, and improving coordination between families and socio-educational environments.
