HIBAPRESS – w.m.a
The High Commissioner for Planning, Chakib Benmoussa, affirmed on Wednesday in Rabat that adapting public policies to the reality of the contemporary family is a condition for achieving social justice, national solidarity, and preparing for the future.
Benmoussa said, during a seminar-discussion organized by the High Commission for Planning to present the results of the 2025 National Family Research, that "adapting public policies to the reality of the contemporary family is not just a social necessity, but a condition for achieving social justice, national solidarity, and preparing for the future, because with a better understanding of today's family, we are preparing the society of tomorrow." He explained that the results of this research highlight "a gradual reshaping of family models, characterized by the increasing dominance of family structures centered around parents, versus a decline in extended family cohabitation in one dwelling." Benmoussa pointed out that these results confirm that the family remains at the heart of Moroccan society, as a space for solidarity, protection, and the transfer of values between generations, despite facing new forms of fragility. The High Commission for Planning recorded in this research that "73 percent of Moroccan families are nuclear families, compared to less than 61 percent in 1995, and this reflects an increasing concentration of the family unit around the parents." According to the same results, the increase in the percentage of couples without children residing with them, from 3.4 percent in 1995 to 9.4 percent in 2025, is strongly linked to the phenomenon of "empty nests" and aging. Benmoussa also highlighted the decline in the issue of proximity between families regarding the place of residence and the reshaping of solidarity patterns, stressing that marital dynamics were characterized by a clear decline in marriage projects and noticeable material constraints. The High Commissioner for Planning indicated that "about 52 percent of unmarried people do not want to get married, especially men." The average age at first marriage is 26.3 years for women and 33.3 years for men, noting that marriages between relatives decreased between 1995 and 2025 from 29.3 percent to 20.9 percent, in addition to a decline in marriage within the same community, which indicates greater social and geographical diversity. Benmoussa noted that the results of this research revealed that the family remains the main framework for the elderly to live, and that social mobility between generations is still high, but it seems to be driven more by the transformation of the economic structure than by equal opportunities. He explained that "in order to better encompass the interactions between family transformations, living and working conditions, and the gender-based division of household and professional activities, the High Commission for Planning is keen to launch, in conjunction with the National Family Research, research on the standard of living of families, on the labor force, and on the use of time. We are moving towards a more comprehensive approach that allows for intersections and comparisons that will help to better understand complex phenomena and to develop public policies related to more appropriate topics." Benmoussa continued that the intersection between the results of the 2025 National Family Research and the results of the 2025/2026 National Research on the Standard of Living of Families, currently being conducted, constitutes an essential element for linking the transformations of family structures to their tangible impacts on living conditions. He also considered that the intersection with the 2026 National Labor Force Research is necessary to link family transformations to working conditions, adding that the results of the 2025 National Family Research show that the delay in the age of marriage, the decline in fertility, family cohabitation strategies, and recourse to assistance within the family are closely linked to economic constraints. Regarding the intersection between the 2025 National Family Research and the 2026 Time Use Research, which is currently underway, it allows for linking family transformations to the actual uses of time within families. It is worth noting that the 2025 National Family Research was based on a sample design aimed at ensuring the representativeness of all regions and social groups in the Kingdom, through a probabilistic sample of 14,000 families, which was formed on the basis of the census areas adopted in the General Population and Housing Census for 2024. The data collection process took place during the period from May 5 to September 24, 2025, using the Computer-Assisted Data Collection (CAPI) system, which enhanced the quality of the data thanks to the integration of automatic monitoring and facilitated the tracking and early detection of discrepancies. This research was also prepared according to a coherent conceptual framework that combines demographic, social, economic, and cultural dimensions, where its axes cover, in particular, family composition, marital dynamics, fertility, intergenerational solidarity, family networks, family trajectories, perceptions and values related to the family, social mobility, in addition to the impact of digitalization on family relations.
