NEWS

A new EU Fund to help cover the basic needs for the most deprived
October 2012

COFACE welcomes the European Commission proposal for a Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived and joins the call of European NGOs urging Member States to support this proposal.

The number of families experiencing extreme poverty is growing in the European Union and about 40 million of people in the EU are not able to meet their basic needs, despite fight against poverty being one of the flagship initiatives of the EU2020 Strategy, a strategy that should work towards a smart, sustainable and, often forgotten, inclusive growth.

The European Commission has proposed on the 24 October 2012, to set up a Fund for the Most Deprived. The Commission foresaw a budget of €2.5 billion for the Fund during the period 2014-2020. The fund will finance the provision of food to the most deprived people and clothing and other essential goods to homeless people and materially-deprived children.

COFACE believes that this fund could directly support many families in alleviating extreme poverty. However, this fund alone cannot be sufficient and therefore the EU and Member States must as well concentrate on actions and policies aiming to prevent  many more families from  falling into poverty.

For more information on the Fund
Read the press released issued by social NGOs


Child poverty: parents’ employment is not enough!
October 2012

Child and family poverty is still a major concern in Europe. A European Commission Recommendation on Child Poverty was expected for 2012 and it is now due for the beginning of 2013. COFACE is looking forward to the publication of this Recommendation, which will, in COFACE’s view, be a step forward in the process of combating family and child poverty in the EU.

As an active stakeholder, COFACE has been invited to intervene in the conference Investing in Children organised by the Cyprus Presidency in Nicosia on 18-19 October 2012. COFACE was asked to present its view on how policies supporting families can help preventing poverty. In this occasion, Paola Panzeri, COFACE’s policy officer for family and social policies transmitted the COFACE position (see the presentation), that a multi-dimensional approach is needed and that parents’ employment alone is not enough to prevent family and child poverty.

Indeed, an integrated approach enabling families to reconcile their work and family life will support more sustainable and long-term solutions. To reconcile, in COFACE’s view, means implement a mix of policies combining (1)access and provision of resources, including benefits and allowances, (2) access to quality, affordable and accessible services and (3) flexible time arrangements.

Finally, a clear point should be made on promoting children’s well being and, at this regard, COFACE reacted, with other stakeholders to the EPSCO Council conclusions of 4 October 2012 (see statement).


Economic crisis and suicide – Families hit twice
September 2012

Statistical feedback from EU Member States since the onset of the crisis in 2008 shows a worrying link between rising unemployment and the suicide rate. Italy’s Association for Economic and Social Research claims that one suicide every day may be caused by the economic crisis in Italy, where the number of jobless people taking their own lives rose by over 30% in 2010.

It is clear that things have taken a serious turn for the worse in the four years since the WHO first warned political leaders about the human toll taken by the crisis back in 2008.

The debt-ridden retired pharmacist in Greece who committed suicide in central Athens leaving a note accusing the Greek government with its EU-imposed austerity measures of "annihilating any hope for my survival" is still fresh in the memory.

Broadly, the hardest-hit are men aged 45-65, mostly fathers, heads of households and the main family breadwinner in countries where female employment is not the norm. Some countries facing serious budget deficits are thinking about or actually are cutting back their support services to families when they need them most, especially when having to cope with the tragic death of a loved one.

Many sociological studies have shown that the family is ultimately the first social safety net in an economic crisis. Our political leaders would do well not to forget that. Families are paying the cost of the crisis in more ways than one.


Family Poverty and child neglect – early intervention is key
June 2012

As we are being made hopeful, that the European Commission will eventually publish its Recommendation on Child Poverty, (probably in 2013), the first studies and findings are being published by NGOs, Intergovernmental organisations like the UNICEF and research bodies on the impact of the austerity measures on family and child poverty.
Earlier this year Unicef warned that we are going backwards in meeting the 2020 target to eliminate child poverty. Some families are struggling to provide the basics for their children as families across Europe are slipping into poverty.

Child abuse doesn't stem from poverty. Neglect and other forms of abuse are present across the whole of society, and many very poor people are also loving and caring parents. But there is a complex link between the two issues. Many parents have levels of resilience that help them to deal with these issues, especially if they have access to wider support, but poverty can take them beyond the point where they can cope and this can have a serious impact for their children. Lack of hot meals during the day, or even lack of food, being alone at home while parents are working, no extra-school activities, these can all be consequences of the drop in disposable income, the loss of income, and cuts to available services.

If services are unavailable to help parents who are slipping into poverty, children will continue to suffer. Cuts to support for vulnerable families are a false economy. The financial and human costs of providing early support are dwarfed by the costs of letting problems spiral to the point where a child has to be taken into care.

Now more than ever, with tighter budgets and limited resources, we need effective early interventions to help families thrive. Therefore we repeat what we always state in all our publications and events, cuts to social services should be avoided, and growth can only be relaunched in a society that is well and healthy. Children and families should not be gambled with through budget cuts.

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Recent data confirm that children are more vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion than other groups in the European Union, reporting a higher risk of poverty (20%) compared to the overall population (17%). The risk increases to 25% for children who live in large families, and exceeds 30% for the ones living with lone parents.

Poverty and social exclusion are largely known to be determined by socio-economic, cultural and environmental conditions that are often transmitted from generation to generation, with the consequence of deepening the income divide and perpetuating societal inequalities. Wellbeing in childhood largely shapes the future adult, recalling the need to prioritize children’s development.

COFACE stands for a recognition of the fundamental role that various policies supporting families can play for the prevention of poverty, breaking its inter-generational transmission and attaining the highest levels of child well-being. COFACE also stands for a coherent EU approach to family policies and the child-rights agenda at EU level and calls for the adoption of a Commission Recommendation on Child Poverty and Wellbeing by 2012.

Other key proposals include: the development of more accurate indicators to monitor the different dimensions of child wellbeing; the promotion of family-friendly employment policies, based on the principle of non-discrimination; the effective implementation of the Flagship Initiative ‘A European Platform against Poverty’; the establishment of common EU criteria for quality early years’ services; the full involvement of civil society, and in particular organisations representing children and families in the elaboration, implementation and assessment of all EU initiatives affecting them.