25 million children in the European Union (EU) are at risk of poverty or social exclusion – that isone child in every four. Most of these children grow up in poor families, who are increasingly struggling to provide them with a decent life. This is a social crime in an EU that prides itself on its social model, an attack on fundamental rights and a failure to invest in people and in our future. Can the EU afford the price?
This Explainer on child poverty is jointly produced by EAPN and Eurochild in order to:
- Raise public awareness about what child poverty means in a European context, its causes, and how it impacts on the lives of children and their families.
- Highlight effective solutions that can help to fight child poverty and promote the well-being of all children and families, particularly in times of austerity and public spending cuts.
We hope it will help to mobilize widespread public and political support for intensified action to reduce child poverty and to promote children’s well-being, at a timely moment to support the implementation of the European Commission’s Recommendation against child poverty.[1]
THe publication is also available in French – Slovakian – Spanish – Estonian – Macedonian –Polish – Italian (The Italian version is a translation of the EAPN explainer of the same name with a last chapter added on the Italian stuation. The publication is a joint effort of Fondazione Albero della Vita (Italian member of Eurochhild) and CILAP EAPN Italia).
EAPN already issued a series of 3 explainers on Poverty and Inequality in the EU (2009), on Adequacy of Minimum Income in the EU (2010) and on Wealth, Inequality and Social Polarisation in the EU (2011).
