In Europe, almost 20 million children grow up in poverty: although the EU is one of the richest and least inequalities in the world, children in all European countries are facing unacceptable levels of poverty, no country excluded. This is what emerges from the new report “Guaranteeing the future of children – How to end child poverty and social exclusion in Europe” which analyzes 14 countries in Europe, including nine EU and five non-EU, and published today by Save the Children. In Italy, estimates show that in 2020 there are 200,000 more children in absolute poverty than the previous year. Among the countries of the European Union, in Germany, one of the richest countries in the world, one in four children grows up at risk of poverty, while in Spain and Romania, one in three children lives below the poverty line. In the Western Balkan countries, where child poverty rates already in previous years ranged from 49.4 percent in Albania to 30.6 percent in Bosnia-Herzegovina and 20.7 percent in Kosovo, the situation is even more serious. According to the Save the Children report, the most vulnerable and poverty-stricken children are those who grow up in large or single-parent families, children with a migrant background, with disabilities, from ethnic minorities, and those living in rural areas or older. disadvantaged. In fact, in Sweden, 58% of all single-parent families of foreign origin are at risk of poverty, just as 45.2 percent of children receiving social benefits in Germany belong to single-parent families. In Italy, large families with at least five members and families with a migratory background are more exposed to poverty, while in Spain and the Netherlands about 40 per cent of children at risk of poverty come from working families, dispelling the myth that children who grow up in poverty come from families with unemployed parents. In Northern Ireland, children from ethnic communities are most exposed to poverty, with two in three children (66 per cent) growing up in poverty, nearly three times the national figure. The only countries – among the 9 EU countries featured in the report – where child poverty rates fell during the pandemic are Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania.
Millions of children across Europe have no or limited access to early childhood education and educational services – often of low quality. Many millions more do not have access to healthy foods leading to increased levels of childhood obesity and chronic malnutrition. Children’s mental health is a key challenge in all countries and the majority of poor children in Europe live in inadequate housing conditions or in overcrowded situations, face loss of home and the risk of eviction is on the rise. day for most of them. The Organization’s new analysis highlights the role of essential services in addressing poverty and social exclusion. In addition, the report contains recommendations on how to improve national child poverty reduction policies. On the occasion of the launch of the report “Securing the future of children – How to end child poverty and social exclusion in Europe”, Save the Children in collaboration with the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament organized a event during which issues related to child poverty in Europe and the impact of Covid-19 on the most vulnerable children and families will be addressed, the allocation of EU funds for child poverty and social exclusion, the implementation of the recommendation of the Council on the European Childhood Guarantee and the measures that non-EU countries should adopt to tackle child poverty and social exclusion. The online event will be held today at 16.00 and will also see the presence of the Minister of Work and Social Policies Andrea Orlando, whose speech will be introduced and presented by Daniela Fatarella, Director General of Save the Children Italy. istro Orlando will be attended by several members of the European Commission, the European Parliament, representatives of the EU states and organizations for the protection of children’s rights.