Fighting child poverty: the child guarantee

Fighting child poverty: the child guarantee / Mary Daly. Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies, 2019.

"Child poverty or social exclusion is high – around 21 % of Europe’s children live in income poverty (60 % of median income in a given country), 8.5 % live in severe material deprivation and 9.3 % in workless households. Some 2.5 % live in all three conditions. Child poverty is a problem for all Member States though prevalence and intensity is highest in some of the Central Eastern European, Baltic and Mediterranean states. Child poverty is multidimensional as issues of education, leisure, clothing, food, health and housing (among others) are involved along with income. Research confirms that poverty and deprivation in childhood has both short- and long-term effects causing an intergenerational cycle of disadvantage. Further it shows that well-designed cash transfers and tax benefits, employment of parents, early child education and care and family services are key to fight child poverty. The EU is a leader in policies to combat child poverty as exemplified in the 2013 Council Recommendation - Investing in Children - which has a tri-partite strategy focusing on employment and adequate income, access to quality services and children’s participation. Nevertheless, research suggests that action at national level has been partial and slow and that child poverty has not been mainstreamed into the European Semester. A European Child Guarantee as called for by the European Parliament in its Resolution of 24 November 2015 and confirmed in its Resolution on the ESF+ of 4 April 2019 is specific by virtue of its focus on the poorest children and also the emphasis on services. The Guarantee centres on free access for every child in poverty to quality early childhood care and education, education, health, decent housing and adequate nutrition. Going forward the following key priorities are suggested: 1) Setting a results-oriented, child poverty target which integrates a focus on the poorest children (measured on a clear basis); 2) Integrating a specific concern with child poverty and the achievement of a target into the multi-annual financial framework; 3) Encouraging and enabling Member States to adopt national strategies around a Child Guarantee; 4) Working out the mode of delivery of the Child Guarantee and deciding whether particular areas of the five components of the Guarantee should be prioritised. It may be strategic to start with service areas where approaches for the poorest and most vulnerable children are better developed, such as early childhood education and care and education. These could be test cases for the Guarantee."