Parenting Support in Europe

This brief focusses on parenting support, defined as the provision of services aimed at enhancing parenting skills and practices in order to address children's physical, emotional and social needs, which has gained attention from policymakers in Europe over the last two decades. It is seen as a potential lever to improve educational outcomes and reduce the risk of criminal behaviour, and parenting skills are seen as drivers of reducing poverty and social exclusion. Parenting support is typically organised and delivered in an integrated approach that facilitates collaborative working between practitioners from different sectors such as health, education and social service. Services are mostly universally accessible and include counselling, provision of support and information, and training programmes. The overall aim of parenting support programmes is to enable parents to become better parents, provide better support to their children and create a positive family environment.