Child poverty and children's well-being

EESC opinion: Child poverty and children's well-being

Key points

The Committee

  • welcomes the political commitment shown by the Council with its decision to make poverty reduction one of the five headline EU targets to be achieved by 2020 (…), "lifting 20 million people out of poverty";
  • is however disappointed that there is not a specific target to reduce child poverty and promote child well-being;
  • also welcomes that one of the seven flagship initiatives will be a European Platform Against Poverty whose purpose is "to ensure social and territorial cohesion such that the benefits of growth and jobs are widely shared and people experiencing poverty and social exclusion are enabled to live in dignity and take an active part in society";
  • strongly recommends that this Platform becomes the framework for eradicating child poverty and promoting child well-being by developing child-specific, multi-dimensional approaches; the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights includes provisions on children's rights, which gives the EU a strong mandate to guarantee the survival, protection and development of children; children should have their own indicators and targets within the EU Platform against Poverty;
  • supports the call for a comprehensive Commission Recommendation on Child Poverty and Well-being to set key policy objectives and targets and create a framework for ongoing monitoring, exchange, research and peer reviews that will contribute to the achievement of this EU 2020 poverty target.