But British politics frequently fails to understand this. This General Election, however, was supposed to be different. In its early days, this was dubbed the 'Mumsnet election' - the first when family issues would be placed right where they belong, at the centre of the debate.
It didn't quite work out that way. Politicians visited plenty of Sure Start centres with camera crews in tow. But many families will have been left with the feeling that family policy was the sideshow, not the main show.
The economy, and the country's deficit, dominated the election campaign, and dominates the messages emerging from the new Government. But family issues need to be central to the economic debate. After all, good family policy and good economic policy are one and the same.
Our new Prime Minister David Cameron has declared he wants to make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe. This is a commendable ambition.
This progress will be measured in the real world by real families. They are worried that cuts will fall on the services they need most. For too long, families have felt their needs have not been prioritised and as a consequence they have had to adapt to the quirks of the system, rather than having a system that truly understands families and their huge variety of needs.
Not surprisingly, we think that if we are to get it right for families, those families need to have a say in the design and running of services at local level and a say in the services that will need protecting in the tough times ahead.
To achieve a family-friendly Britain, the Government will have to hold its nerve on commitments to improving family life in tough economic times. It will have to place family policy at the centre of every policy decision. In these very early days, there is little concrete to go on. But as the ambitions and aspirations of this new Government are translated into hard policy reality, families across the UK will be watching to see how they will be affected and how the changes undertaken will impact on their ability to enjoy the family life they want.
