First Lady Erdoğan sends video message to the International Summit “Growing Europe 2025”

First Lady Emine Erdoğan sent a video message to the International Summit “Growing Europe 2025” hosted by First Lady Diana Nausėdienė of Lithuania.

Thanking First Lady Nausėdienė for organizing the summit, First Lady Erdoğan stated that extended families, holidays celebrated together, and days when different generations gathered around the same table have long since taken their place in the world's nostalgia archives, and that this change is not only the new face of the modern world but also the nearing footsteps of a post-family reality.

Noting that the family is moving away from being the fundamental unit of society today, First Lady Erdoğan said that a post-family culture is already on the rise with falling marriage and fertility rates, and that the world is aging with societies becoming increasingly single and childless.

“FALLING BIRTH RATES AND SHRINKING YOUTH POPULATION SLOW ECONOMIC GROWTH”

Stating that one in every six people in the world will be over 60 years old by 2030, and the population over 80 is expected to triple by 2050, First Lady Erdoğan said: “Meanwhile, the fertility rate has fallen to 2.2 per woman, and more than half of the countries have already fallen below the critical threshold of 2.1. Yet, every birth adds a new day to the world's spring. Falling birth rates and the shrinking youth population, in turn, slow economic growth and cause serious financial pressures on social security and healthcare systems. In short, a world unable to renew itself will inevitably be dragged into a major impasse.”

Recalling that Türkiye, as a country that believes the family is the heart of civilization, declared 2025 the “Year of the Family” and the period 2026-2035 the “Decade of the Family and Population,” Mrs. Erdoğan said: “Just as a tree with rotten roots cannot survive, a society with weakened foundations cannot face the future with confidence. Therefore, we are implementing policies to eliminate the conflict between work and family life in our country. We support young people and families with a wide range of services, including housing and marriage loans, maternity leave for working mothers and fathers, daycare support, flexible working hours, breastfeeding leave for mothers, and awareness-raising campaigns.”

Stated that they, as a member of the United Nations (UN) Group of Friends of the Family, are highlighting the importance of family through family diplomacy, First Lady Erdoğan said: “In doing so, we are also including a narrative that emphasizes spiritual values ​​as much as social policies. Because the culture industry plays a significant role in the postponement of the age of marriage and first motherhood, and the rise in single-person households and single-parent families. This industry positions the individual at the center of life. It measures success by high-rise office buildings. It portrays the traditional family model as the biggest obstacle to career development. In contrast, it offers people a lonely, digitalized, and hedonistic world that it glorifies. I believe that the International Summit ‘Growing Europe 2025’ will be a platform to address all these issues and inspire the construction of a new vision for strengthening the family institution.”