EU guarantee against child poverty: Quote from Katrin Langensiepen

Today (Thursday 29 April), the results of the vote on the resolution on the EU guarantee against child poverty will be announced (from 16:30). A large cross-party majority is expected. Ahead of the European Social Policy Summit on 7 May, the resolution aims to call on EU governments to guarantee all children in the European Union free access to healthy food, clean drinking water, adequate housing, healthcare, education, care and leisure activities and to implement the Action Plan for the European Pillar of Social Rights. The aim of the action plan is to significantly reduce child poverty by 2030.

Katrin Langensiepen, Greens/EFA shadow rapporteur and vice-chair of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, comments:

"All children have the right to healthy food, clean drinking water, adequate housing, healthcare, education, care and recreational activities. It's an embarrassment for the European Union that one in five children in the EU is affected by poverty. Children in poverty often lack basic services and are threatened by the vicious circle of poverty and social exclusion.

"EU governments must to make the fight against child poverty a priority. European social policy must ensure that all children have access to basic care and that single parents, LGBTIQ families and people with disabilities receive targeted support. Member States should increase the five per cent allocated from the European Social Fund to fight child poverty. The post-pandemic period will raise poverty to new levels. 

"We call on Member States to guarantee children's right to adequate housing and to offer support to parents with difficulties in paying rent. At the Social Summit in Porto, EU governments can show how much they care about the welfare and future of all children in the EU. We expect decisive political action, not just empty promises."