EN-ICHI Opens Up the Future of Family and Community
How French Municipalities Are Focusing on Quality of Life
In France, the COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened interest in town planning that raises residents’ quality of life. Beyond the appeal of rural areas blessed with nature, models of community-based childrearing—something that has faded in big cities—are drawing attention.
A rising quest for quality of life
France, often highlighted for having the highest birth rate in Europe, has seen work styles change dramatically over the three pandemic years. As a result, improving each citizen’s quality of life (well-being) has become the central focus.
In February 2023, the daily Le Parisien ran a survey on childrearing environments. The top spot went to Illkirch-Graffenstaden, a town of about 27,000 in Bas-Rhin in northeastern France. The survey used three pillars—health, family, and safety—and looked at a wide range of factors: number of pediatricians, burglary rates (public security), air pollution, green space, housing prices, pharmacies, educational facilities, commuting time, and more.
The survey was designed to provide information for households relocating from large cities to the countryside to raise children as remote work continued to expand. Higher aggregate scores meant better evaluations, and users could input their own weighting and search towns accordingly. Scores could be calculated not only for a town itself but also with a three-kilometer surrounding area.
Well over 80% of Parisians wish to move to the countryside, and many now see more disadvantages than advantages in big-city living. Even before COVID-19, French people strongly desired a better quality of life—larger gardens, cleaner air—and many were already considering leaving high-stress metropolitan areas.
When the workplace tie that had anchored people to specific locations loosened during the pandemic, more than 100,000 Parisians left the capital in 2021. One survey shows 82% of those living in Paris for work or study hope to leave. Towns of around 20,000 residents that had struggled with depopulation have sprung back to life, spurring improvements in Wi-Fi (essential for remote work), as well as education, healthcare, and transport infrastructure.
A friend who moved from Paris to the outskirts of Vannes, a city of 50,000 in Brittany, told me: “Moving to a small, sun-splashed town let us give our daughter far more space at a much lower price than in Paris. It even made us think we could have another child. It was the right choice.”
Alençon in Normandy was forced to improvise during pandemic-era school closures. With hot school lunches difficult to provide, the municipality avoided shutting down catering entirely by rotating cold, picnic-style meals by class and allowing children to bring sandwiches from home.
One mother said, “It’s much better than closing the cafeteria.” Another commenter objected that “children have a right to hot, balanced meals.” The municipality emphasized that “what matters is that parents look after their children,” and encouraged picnicking in nature around the schools—an approach many newcomers from big cities said they found inspiring.
“A genuine family haven”
Among 444 municipalities with populations over 20,000, Illkirch-Graffenstaden topped the list as the best for families. Mayor Thibaud Philipps noted, “Children’s well-being is at the heart of our municipal agenda.” To bolster safety, video surveillance cameras have been installed at school entrances, and school-lunch prices have been kept flat despite inflation.
Reflecting local characteristics, bilingual education in German or Alsatian is offered from early-childhood settings. Schoolyards are lush with greenery, and the mayor says the city is making “sustained efforts to turn it into a genuine haven for families.”
Located just south of Strasbourg, the town was described by Le Parisien as “a dream location for families with young children to settle,” scoring highly across all criteria. One drawback of small towns is that children often have to leave home to attend high school or university; Illkirch-Graffenstaden, however, benefits from its proximity to the major city of Strasbourg.
Community-based childrearing
Equally noteworthy is the revival of resident-driven community life—largely absent in big cities. The guiding idea is that communities are best placed to provide fine-grained childrearing support. Under family-law provisions, municipalities can adopt multi-year plans to develop childcare services for children under six.
Today, crèches and after-school programs admit children under six during the day while parents are working, in training, or job hunting. Increasingly, facilities will also accept children so parents can take a breather—going out for a meal together or enjoying recreation. For-profit firms rarely operate these collective childcare facilities in France.
For households that have moved from cities and now rely on telework, such facilities are indispensable. A shared sense that “the whole community raises children” is taking root, and the reassurance this creates encourages people to have children. All fifteen municipalities at the top of Le Parisien’s rankings have physicians overseeing services within mother-and-child health departments.
Municipalities can also order facility closures if children face physical or psychological threats. For public safety, Illkirch-Graffenstaden, with a population of 27,000, has installed 100 security cameras.
France has a long tradition of crafting livable towns; flower-filled, beautiful communities dot the country. Strict building controls mean urban planning often takes precedence over purely private property interests. To this, a new, town-wide, child-rearing model aimed at well-being and sustainable development has been added—spurring healthy competition among municipalities.
(Originally published in “EN-ICHI FORUM”, November 2023.)
