Print Magazine
Brussels Morning Newspaper
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • About Us
  • EU institutions
    • Commission
    • Parliament
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • The American Angle
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Southeast Europe
Brussels Morning Newspaper
  • Home
    • About Us
  • EU institutions
    • Commission
    • Parliament
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • The American Angle
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Southeast Europe
Brussels Morning Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Europe must do more to fight child poverty and the ‘Child Guarantee’ is the solution

Dragoș Pîslaru MEP by Dragoș Pîslaru MEP
25 February 2021
in Opinion
Europe must do more to fight child poverty and the ‘Child Guarantee’ is the solution
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Brussels (Brussels Morning) A child living in poverty is, I believe, a catastrophe. It is a personal hardship for the family but also a failure of society to guarantee that its most vital members receive a fair start in life.

This is not a new problem with decades of debates on its possible solutions and increasing fund allocations to alleviate poverty causation.

Nevertheless, figures in Europe remain high, with almost one out of four children growing up in poverty, particularly among poorer regions and vulnerable groups. In my own home country of Romania, 35.8% of children are living in poverty but it is not just a southern or eastern problem – in Brussels, the unofficial capital of the EU, child poverty levels are at 40%.

Behind those numbers there are young children who lack adequate food. They live in improper housing conditions, without heating or insulation from heat. If they do go to school, which is not always the case, their families cannot afford books. Most do not go to pre-school or kindergarten, where they could learn valuable early-life skills.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation with the post-COVID-19 digital-education age increasing the disparities: many of these children have no phones or tablets to do their on-line classes. Those who have the devices are set back because their families cannot afford Internet subscriptions.

If they get sick, from the bad food and bad living conditions, their parents have trouble paying for adequate health care or for more expensive medicine.

These children will become vulnerable young people and then vulnerable adults, perpetuating this cycle. Some will escape the cycle, managing to get scholarships or better paid jobs – but most do not.

Paradigm shift

As I said, Europe is aware of these problems and annual funds are allocated to help solve child poverty. Each piece of the jigsaw that contributes to deprivation of children is addressed through national social expenditure as well as European funds, NGOs and charities.

Yet, figures continue to rise.

We clearly need something else to break the cycle and I believe that is a paradigm shift from expenditure to investment.

As a society, we must understand that child poverty is simply bad for business and it will take more than just the public or civic sectors to be involved but also the private sector with significant buy-in.

There are two approaches currently being taken, both to be integrated into the new Child Guarantee to be launched at the end of March by the European Commission and adopted by the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council in May at its Porto Social Summit.

First, there must be coordination of financial tools with silo policies avoided at all costs. The age where one government agency will disburse some money for housing, another for nutrition and another for childcare, without joint planning, must end. We need an integrated and holistic approach encompassing both national and EU expenditure where only the Commission, through the Child Guarantee, would be entitled to draft recommendations for strategy.

There are many existing tools to get started. At the EU level, for the first time, the European Social Fund+ (ESF+), a general financial line, will have a dedicated segment for children and young people. Various lines from this fund already contribute much needed aid, such as FEAD, providing food aid, for example.

The novelty is the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), targeted toward economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic — a 672.5 billion euro fund, comprising grants and loans — is the first initiative of its kind that will support the NextGenerationEU project and make it a reality.

Mainstreaming children and young people

Despite the current scope of the RRF, I was surprised when in my capacity as European Parliament co-rapporteur my search for the word ‘children’ in the RRF’s original proposal amassed zero hits. Eventually, the Parliament negotiating team remedied the oversight with member states now obliged to use a part of their national allocations for children and young people, as part of the NextGeneration pillar — I fought hard to add to the text.

Where the ESF+ is a scalpel, the RRF must be a financial bazooka to get Europe back on track. To ensure this approach, money must go into investments for the future and not be spent to plaster over longstanding gaps.

That is why the fight against child poverty must include investment into new and sustainable solutions as the new norm, particularly social impact investment.

The idea is that money can be spent in joint public-private ventures to generate both social impact and a return revenue, leading to more investment and, therefore, more benefits. For example, housing projects that create jobs and sales revenues with a number of dwellings earmarked for social housing. Or the creation of childcare centres that train and employ people who have trouble finding a job, allow more people to enter the workforce, offer early-life skills to children in vulnerable regions and lead to significant improvements in school drop-outs levels and, in the long run, are paid for and maintained by the communities they help.

This can be applied to investments in sustainable, organic farming that can provide healthy nutrition to children and jobs for their parents, to communal centres for digital competences to families, to medical screening programmes and facilities that would in turn lower health expenditure dramatically and so on. The potential of the concept is immense and could, with adequate understanding and avoidance of silo policies, have wide implications. It can give jobs to the aging, help the environment and lead the clean energy revolution, harness the digital wave and significantly lower unemployment.

And, most importantly for me, such investment could ensure that fewer and fewer children grow up in unacceptable conditions, impacting their success in life. That, for me, is the promise of the Child Guarantee. It is something I will continue to fight for, in the European Parliament and beyond.

Tags: Brussels DirectMain-SliderMEP

Latest post

The Brexit Final Act

Britain prepares law to override parts of Brexit treaty

10 hours ago
Berlin

What Are 10 Best Hotels In Berlin?

11 hours ago

Most Read

  • shutterstock_1821616664

    MEPs send Open Letter urging the Home Secretary Priti Patel to reject Assange’s extradition

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • These are the 10 highest paying jobs in the Europe in 2022

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Why corruption matters

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Brussels residents want to set up school for Ukrainian children

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Government approves route for ‘Mediatram’ from Meiser

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Facebook Twitter Youtube LinkedIn

About Us

Brussels Morning is a daily online newspaper based in Belgium. BM publishes unique and independent coverage on international and European affairs. With a Europe-wide perspective, BM covers policies and politics of the EU, significant Member State developments, and looks at the international agenda with a European perspective.

Category

  • Ambassador’s Corner
  • Belgium News
  • Brussels
  • Commission
  • Council
  • Culture and Society
  • Diplomacy
  • Economy
  • EU Institutions
  • Europe
  • Europe With Transparency
  • Features
  • In Depth
  • Member States
  • Middle East Eye
  • Opinion
  • Our pick
  • Parliament
  • Place de la Bourse
  • Southeast Europe
  • Sustainable Perspective
  • The American Angle
  • The Macro-Economist
  • Uncategorised
  • US Elections
  • World

More info

  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Cookies Policy
  • Contact Us
  • FAQ
  • Jobs

Brussels Morning Newspaper - All Rights Reserved © 2020

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • EU Institutions
    • Parliament
    • Commission
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Member States
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • The American Angle
    • Southeast Europe
  • Print Magazine

Brussels Morning Newspaper - All Rights Reserved © 2020

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT