Needs at the transition to family in rapidly changing societies – interventions
Below you can read a summary of the lecture I was invited to give at a conference of the Institute of Psychology in Zurich on 23 August 2019: ‘Starting a family as a vulnerable phase’. The topic was: Needs at the transition to family in rapidly changing societies – possibilities for support. 
The link to the lecture on the website of the Institute of Psychology is: https://www.psychologie. uzh.ch/dam/jcr:2ce6b5e4-6fd5-4d31-b5f1-a30ccc2ec9b0/03_Bed%C3%BCrfnisse%20beim%20%C3%9Cbergang%20zur%20Familie_Sp%C3%A4tling.pdf and to the page of the institute’s conference.
Summary
The essential needs of young people at the transition to family life, such as the desire for love, security and financial security, do not change, but they take on a different significance in rapidly changing social structures. Hormone birth control enables women in their new role to solve tasks that strengthen our society. Together with the rapid development of information technology, demands have been placed on us as people that cannot be met without supportive measures. Education, the knowledge for the individual on how to deal with the demands, must start as early as possible. The earliest teachers of children are the parents, who best fulfil their role when they understand each other well and live in a good partnership. We can/must contribute to this.
Costs pay off
At least the governments in Germany have so far regarded partnership and having children as a private matter. In fact, however, it is not a private matter, because at the latest when parental care fails, children place a considerable burden on the social systems of societies, which are supported by all citizens. So there must be a great interest on the part of citizens to keep costs low. And Heckman has shown that the appropriate steps are also effective in a market economy. Interventions ZH 190704 Heckman Parents 190704
If measures to strengthen couples or parents cannot be prescribed by the state, incentive systems should be established in which voluntariness is maintained. We know from neurobiological research that reward systems are highly effective.
Interventions at life transitions
If we now look at the people we believe to have the greatest influence on the target group, our eyes are drawn to midwives. They play an important role in many life transitions. They have a special relationship with parents across all educational levels. This is due to their down-to-earth nature, coupled with practical help in the particularly sensitive moments of pregnancy and birth. The academisation of this profession should be used not only to deploy midwives primarily in pregnancy and birth, but also to specialise in providing support to young parents in a prophylactic approach. One of their key tasks would be to strengthen the partnership, because if the parental partnership fails, many problems are exacerbated, including child poverty.