The Program for Social Policy Evaluation and Research (PROSPER) at the College of Public Policy (CPP), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), has organized a webinar series to discuss the findings of a wide-reaching international research study on COVID-19 family life led by Dr. Anis Ben Brik, associate professor at CPP and founding director of PROSPER. 

“The Impact of the Pandemic on Family Life Across Cultures”, one of the largest studies of its kind in the world, was conducted in 72 countries from North America, Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Arab region including the State of Qatar, in partnership with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Development, 10 universities and research centers, and 17 NGOs. The global data provided a unique window into the commonalities and differences in how families both shaped and were shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic on every continent, across all income and education levels, and within all age groups. Topics ranged from parents and child health and anxieties, marital relationship quality, parenting practices, gender roles, fatherhood, family coping and resilience, family satisfaction, domestic violence, intergenerational solidarity, impact of technology and internet addiction, social interactions to family policies. 

Bringing together several of the academics and experts who were part of the research team, the webinar series kicked off with Impact of the Pandemic on Family Life in Latin America on December 14, in partnership with the Institute of the Family, University of La Sabana, Colombia; University of Nove de Julho, Brazil; Family-Work Balance Research Center, Austral University, Argentina; APDES Colegios De Familias, Argentina; Regional Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean for Women, Mexico; and the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS), Mexico.

Impact of the Pandemic on Family Life in Asia was held on December 17, in partnership with the Centre for Family and Population Research (CFPR), National University of Singapore, and Focus on the Family Asia. 

On December 22, the third webinar, European Results on Large Families of the International COVID-19 Family Life Study, was held in partnership with the European Large Families Confederation, HARO Sweden, International Federation for Home Economics, Germany; and the German Society for Home Economics, Germany. 

Upcoming webinars will discuss the results for the Gulf region,  North America, Africa, and the Arab region. Commenting after the most recent webinar, Dr. Ben Brik said: “The coronavirus pandemic affected every aspect of life, from shuttering schools, closing shops, and halting everyday life in nearly every corner of the globe.

Consequently, it is crucial to examine how family life changed during the pandemic and explore how these changes will likely influence future government policy and programming. We have assembled a team of global experts, who together have collected very rich data that is ready to be brought to bear on a slew of pressing global issues facing the family as well as to inform academic and public discourse on families moving forward. Engaging PROSPER’S growing network of partners through our webinar series is in keeping with our aim to support effective policy development and implementation and is an important step toward engaging and highlighting the evidence-based findings of the research study to key decision makers.” 

The College of Public Policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University regularly holds events to highlight its research activities and projects. For more information, please visit cpp.hbku.edu.qa.

For more information on the work of the College of Public Policy, please visit cpp.hbku.edu.qa