Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church

Work is “a foundation for the formation of family life, which is a natural right and something that man is called to”.^{633John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 10: AAS 73 (1981), 600.} It ensures a means of subsistence and serves as a guarantee for raising children.^{634Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 10: AAS 73 (1981), 600- 602; John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, 23: AAS 74 (1982), 107-109.} Family and work, so closely interdependent in the experience of the vast majority of people, deserve finally to be considered in a more realistic light, with an attention that seeks to understand them together, without the limits of a strictly private conception of the family or a strictly economic view of work. In this regard, it is necessary that businesses, professional organizations, labour unions and the State promote policies that, from an employment point of view, do not penalize but rather support the family nucleus. In fact, family life and work mutually affect one another in different ways. Travelling great distances to the workplace, working two jobs, physical and psychological fatigue all reduce the time devoted to the family.^{635Cf. Holy See, Charter of the Rights of the Family, art. 10, Vatican Polyglot Press, Vatican City 1983, p. 13-14.} Situations of unemployment have material and spiritual repercussions on families, just as tensions and family crises have negative influences on attitudes and productivity in the area of work.