Tackling Child poverty in the EU
Even in the modern world, child poverty continues to be a major issue, and the European Union is no exception. Child poverty is one of the leading causes of social exclusion. It also may increase the probability unemployment, criminal convictions and poor mental health further down the road. Figures from studies in this area, carried out in 2016, show that a total of 26.4% of children around the EU are currently coping with financial worries and are at high risk of being exposed to poverty and social exclusion.
Whilst the EU abides by the UNCRC (united nations convention of the rights of a child) issued by UNICEF, it is almost impossible to keep track of every single child in the EU. This is where issues start to arise. Governments and facilities, schools and educators are doing their utmost to protect children and give them the best possible start in their early years. Aside from them being largely unable to tell of a child’s families money problems straight off the bat, they also are left unsure and apprehensive of where to seek help from and how to improve the situation without making things worse for the families involved.
Joanna Hofman and Katie Stewart are two people who have taken this issue by storm and plan on advocating for the rights and needs of the children involve. They are working to ensure positive strategies and developments to be put in place to combat child poverty around the European Union.
As a research leader and analyst of home affairs these two make a fierce team to be reckoned with and are working hard to secure publicity and mainstream support for the issues involved. They both work around social policies a research group at RAND in Europe. They also work together on researching for the European Platform for Investing in Children. With the right people backing their cause, things could really turn around in the near future.
They spoke out from the conclusion of their research and one publication wrote “One potential future policy development to help tackle child poverty across the EU is a dedicated Child Guarantee, an initiative proposed by the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament.”. They go onto explain the initiative more in-depth by adding that “If adopted, the Child Guarantee would put in place a political commitment to provide every child at risk of poverty in the EU with access to free healthcare, education and childcare, adequate nutrition and decent housing.”.
Whilst this may sound like a great answer to everything, the initiative is still being developed and is at its earliest and most vulnerable stage. Once they have the support from the European Union and others to back them it’s sure to take off and go far, saving hundreds of children in the process.
