David Cronin
BRUSSELS, Apr 3 2008 (IPS) – Minimum levels of expenditure on addressing the causes of child poverty should be introduced across the European Union, according to a parliamentarian tasked with analysing the problem.
Some 19 million children live in poverty in the EU, about a fifth of the bloc #39s citizens below the age of 18.
While Gabriele Zimmer, a German left-wing member of the European Parliament (MEP), described the statistic as almost unbelievable , she indicated that it would be even higher if it was expanded to include young asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants. Zimmer is currently preparing an official report for the Parliament on child poverty.
As expenditure on child welfare varies considerably between the EU #39s 27 countries, Zimmer is urging that the idea of setting common rules for what proportion of national income should be devoted to education, child health, social housing and related services should be examined. We need a discussion about the level of minimum subsistence, she told IPS. This is necessary.
At least 8 percent of each EU country #39s national income should be spent on education, Zimmer said. At present, the average for industrialised countries is 6.2 percent.
You can #39t treat poverty without looking at the questions of minimum income and minimum wages, she added. You always have to know what the consequences are if people are not paid enough.
Since its inception five decades ago, the EU as a whole has shied away from telling individual member states how much they should allocate to social services in their national budgets. Whereas the principal agreements on which EU law are based have lacked any reference to children #39s rights, this has theoretically been rectified by the new Lisbon treaty, which is currently going through a process of ratification.
With the treaty committing the EU to promoting protection of the rights of the child , its supporters have argued that it will oblige policy-makers to take account of how each decision they take will affect children.
Yet its opponents suggest that efforts to ensure that each family enjoys an adequate income for rearing children may be undermined by clauses on economic policy they regard as neo-liberal. For example, the treaty says that competition must not be #39distorted #39. Some companies have argued that the setting of minimum wages amounts to such a distortion.
Proinsias de Rossa, an Irish Labour MEP who is campaigning for a #39Yes #39 vote in his country #39s referendum on the Lisbon treaty, which is expected in May or June, nonetheless argued that the pre-eminence the EU is giving to free market policies is driving down social standards.
A December 2007 ruling by the European Court of Justice which attacked minimum wages in Sweden has thrown Europe into disarray, he said. In that case, the court ruled in favour of Laval, a Latvian construction firm, which won a contract to build a school in Vaxholm, Sweden.
Laval withdrew from the project after it became embroiled in a bitter dispute with Swedish trade unions because it sought to pay its workers Latvian wages, which were between one-tenth and one-fifth of those paid in Sweden. According to the court, efforts by the Swedish unions to force a foreign company to negotiate on pay violated the freedom to provide services.
De Rossa said that the Laval verdict has raised fears that #39social dumping #39 the relocation of companies to countries where they can pay lower wages will become the norm.
If we have social dumping, we certainly cannot deal with child poverty, he said.
In a study published last year, the United Nations Children #39s Fund (Unicef) examined relative poverty among children growing up in a household with less than half of the average national income in 21 industrialised countries, mostly in Europe. It found that hardship was lowest in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden but highest in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Britain and the U.S.
Dominic Richardson, a policy analyst with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of nominally rich countries, said that poverty is especially prevalent among children growing up in single-parent households.
While the average rate of poverty for lone parents in the OECD is 31 percent, the figure rises to more than 40 percent in Ireland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain.
Richardson noted that lone parents in Belgium, Hungary and Italy are paid supplements to the general family allowances offered by the state. But many other EU countries do not provide anything extra for single mothers or fathers.
Hugh Frazer, a professor with Ireland #39s Maynooth University, said that research from his country shows that poverty in childhood leads to poverty in adulthood. By leading to reduced economic activity, child poverty can have major costs for entire countries. This is particularly significant at a time when we have an ageing population (in Europe), he said.
He argued that a broad-range approach is required if we are to make progress. This would include boosting access to reasonably paid jobs, the provision of better social services, and ensuring that children are consulted about decisions that affect them.
Frazer voiced optimism about the recognition given to children #39s rights in the Lisbon treaty. This may lead to stronger action at European level, he said. At least, I hope it does.
No Responses