PES campaign for a Child Guarantee

European Youth Plan background briefing

Acknowledging the fact that Europes youth is paying a high price in the current difficult economic
and social context and willing to reverse that trend, the PES proposes a Plan for the European
Youth. This PES Youth Plan builds on four pillars
Jobs,
Education
Culture
Children
The Children pillar will embrace the PES child guarantee campaign, a campaign against child
poverty in the EU, integrating the main elements of the work that is done by the S&D group in the
European Parliament on this issue. The aim of this pillar should be to guarantee children a healthy
meal at school, to guarantee children to benefit from quality childcare and to guarantee children to
have access to healthcare.

This briefing note presents an early description of the PES campaign for a Child Guarantee. It will
serve as a background for discussions within the PES Social Europe Network.

1. Changing an unacceptable situation

The PES will campaign for the EU to do more to meet the challenge of child poverty.

a. The EU needs to step-up its commitment against child poverty.

Today, the number of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Europe reaches a dramatic
number of 27 million, and around 27 % of people under the age of 18 are at risk of poverty or
social exclusion. This puts children more at risk of poverty or social exclusion than the overall
population in a large majority of EU countries. Moreover, children experiencing poverty and social
exclusion are more likely to start their lives at a disadvantage and are also less likely to acquire the
skills and capabilities that will enable them to break the cycle of disadvantage.

The EU has developed policies in the field of children rights, education, health and well-being,
childcare or social inclusion over the years. If these EU actions have opened interesting paths to
improve the situation of children in Europe, they so far failed to meet the challenge, considering the
rise in children at risks of poverty or social exclusion. More generally the EU has also clearly failed
to reach the objectives of poverty reduction it set itself in the Europe 2020 Strategy1.

b. A PES campaign for a child guarantee

1In the Europe 2020 Strategy, the EU set itself the objective to diminish by 20 million the number of people in or at risk of
poverty and social exclusion by 2020. Between 2008 and 2013, the number of people at risk of poverty or social
exclusion in the EU27* increased from 117 million to 121 million, according to Eurostat.

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In the PES 2014 Manifesto, we committed to safeguard the rights and well-being of children
[].[] the quality and affordability of education,[] of healthcare, childcare [] are crucial
components of our societies. Children rights, as spelled out in the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child2, include the right to adequate standards of living, to health, to care, to
education, to name a few3. In 2015 all UN countries adopted a goal to reduce at least by half the
proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according
to national definitions by 20304.

In order to ensure those rights are respected, that the UN Sustainable Development Goals will be
met and to change the unacceptable situation, the PES will campaign for a European Child
Guarantee that will build on the work that is being done by the S&D Group on this matter and the
definition adopted by the European Parliament stating that every child in poverty must have access
to:
- Free healthcare,
- Free education,
- Free childcare,
- Decent housing, and
- Adequate nutrition
as part of a European integrated plan to combat child poverty including both the Child Guarantee
and programs offering support and opportunities for parents to get out of social exclusion situations
and to integrate women and men equally into the labour market.

The multi-dimensional causes for child poverty and the current dispersion of existing European
actions in favour of children call for a real, coordinated European initiative to tackle child poverty.
The Child Guarantee will be our initiative to address child poverty. It will be linked to the review of
the Europe 2020 Strategy scheduled for 2016 by the European Commission, and should ensure
the implementation of the proposals put forward in 2013 by the European Commission in its
Recommendations on Investing in Children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage5.

2. Our claims for an effective Child Guarantee

The PES campaign will propose a set of measures and adequate funding.

a. A commitment on a clear set of immediate measures

The PES will propose at European level a package of measures to combat the most crying
situations of distress children face in Europe: these measures will include food provision, material
support such as clothes, access to healthcare, and reinforcement of social services.
Each Member State would be required to define an action plan to implement this
package in order to get access to the Child Guarantees funding, with clear targets for
child poverty reduction.
The funding available for material support and food provision should be increased to
reach a critical mass and effectively reduce children deprivation6. Progress would be

2
United Nations General Assembly Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989
3 See for example article 3, 18, 24, 27, 28,31 of the United Nations General Assembly Convention on the Rights of the
Child
4
United Nations General Assembly resolution, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
25 September 2015; http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E.
5
Commission recommendation on investing in Children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage, COM(2013)778 final.
6 Eurostat considers that not being able to afford nine out of the following items means a child is deprived: two pairs of

shoes; fresh fruits/vegetables daily; three meals a day; one meal with meat or equivalent protein; suitable books; outdoor
leisure equipment; indoor games; a place to do homework; dental consultations; doctor consultations; leisure activities
such as sports; celebrations on special occasions; ability to invite friends home; participation in school events/trips; safe

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 monitored as part of the follow-up of the Europe 2020 Strategy objectives within the
European Semester, for example with the setting of a specific child poverty indicator as
part of the Annual Growth Survey. Consequently, tailor-made Country Specific
Recommendations would be made to ensure measures are taken against child poverty.

The PES will also propose further action to provide structural support to children and their families
On the basis of the Barcelona Objectives7 on childcare provision, and through the Country Specific
Recommendations on the topic as part of the European Semester, the PES will propose:
The provision of universal affordable quality childcare as a priority among the structural
reforms put forward in the European Semester, allowing Member States to use the
flexibility of the Stability and Growth Pact, in order to mobilise the necessary funding for
the Initiative.
The implementation of these measure will be a mix between European, national, and
regional levels. E n d o r s e d a t E U l e v e l , t he Child Guarantee principle will provide a political
and financial umbrella to make these actions more visible, and facilitate their monitoring.

b. Adequate funding for the Initiative

At the moment, several EU funds could be used to address child poverty (notably the European
Social Fund (ESF), the Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived (FEAD), Structural funds,
European School fruit and Milk Schemes) but the overall amount of means effectively dedicated to
it has not yet been put together. At the same time, considering the multiple causes for child poverty
or social exclusion, it is difficult to evaluate the financial needs to address the issue. It is crucial to
allocate adequate resources and to monitor the concrete actions children actually benefit from.

The PES will therefore ask for:

The review of the EUs Multiannual Financial Framework in 2016 will provide an opportunity
to better identify and promote the funds available for children, as well as to increase the
total financing available.
To identify an overall budgetary envelope to combat child poverty in Europe, with the
grouping of existing funds under a single Child Guarantee funding umbrella. To ensure this
envelope is effectively available and used to combat child poverty, the Child Guarantee will
earmark and increase where necessary relevant budget allocations in existing EU
programmes.
To provide visible level of financial commitment on fighting child poverty, facilitate the
identification of available resources and support their better mobilisation to fight child
poverty. It will allow a better assessment of the funding needed and that of the
implementation of concrete measures in the Member States. Concerted efforts at national
level, notably as co-financing, should complement this EU financial support.

This funding available under the Child Guarantee umbrella would be organised around two
priorities:
A priority on addressing the needs of the regions most affected by child poverty, where the
children experience most severe deprivation. It would cover the most urgent measures of
the Child Guarantee, building on the experience of the Fund for European Aid to the most
Deprived (FEAD) and the European School fruit and Milk Schemes.

outdoor play space; one week annual holiday away from home . European Parliament Library briefing, Child poverty and
social exclusion, a framework for European action, June 2013
7
The Barcelona objectives requires the Member States to remove disincentives to female labour force participation and
strive, taking into account the demand for child care services and in line with the national patterns of childcare provision,
to provide childcare by 2012 to: at least 90 % of children between 3 years old and the mandatory school age and at least
33% of children under 3 years of age.

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 A second priority on supporting structural efforts that contribute to decreasing child poverty,
such as access to childcare, improvement of healthcare service etc. as part of a strategy for
investing in children, within the social investment package.

The objective is to increase the funding for these different proposals, under a common, easily
understandable European umbrella. It should not only be a facade or a consolidation of the
different programmes, but mobilise fresh money.

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