While there was a sense of relief when the EU managed to reach agreement on the Recovery Fund, which is to help EU economies fund economic stimulus to prevent the post-pandemic recession from becoming a bottomless pit, and the next EU long-term budget, there was disappointment too. There had been a lot of hope among people like me who work for child protection and child rights coming up to these talks. This was because there was to be a requirement for EU member states to spend at least 5% of the resources allocated to them from the European Social Fund Plus on addressing child poverty. In the text of the final agreement, this requirement was not mentioned.
This specific disappointment is with regards to the EU, but it is a greater problem that is going to cause trouble all around the world. There seems to be an idea that ‘we do not have the time and money right now to worry about the children.’ First – seems to be the thinking – we need to get on top of the health crisis and dig the economy out of the hole it is stuck in, and then we can think about other issues again. Anything to do with children is definitely expected to take a backseat.
The thing is that it is quite frankly somewhat delusional to think that things like child poverty can be seen as separate from a recession and economic stimulus. And not just because the economy impacts the children. It works the other way around as well.
As I have mentioned various times before: austerity is too expensive, we cannot afford it during a recession. What I mean by that is that when there is no support for vulnerable children and families (and all children living in poverty are vulnerable) they tend to end up in crisis situations that are far more difficult, not to mention expensive, to resolve than support at an earlier stage would have been. These situations also tend to have a lot of longterm, expensive consequences, the cost of much of which will be borne by taxpayers – unless the children and families are simply left to perish without help at any stage.
However, the impact on the economy goes both ways. Not only will it end up costing a lot of money – a burden on the economy – if support is not there at an early stage. It is also true that if a country commits to improving its community services and family strengthening support systems, this will lead to job creation. More people will be able to find work, not need unemployment benefits, and be able to pay taxes and spend money, contributing to the economic recovery.
We need to get through to governments that family strengthening and combatting child poverty are essential parts of any effective economic stimulus measures. Without them, economic growth will be slow and money will be drained from the state’s purse putting out (preventable) fires.
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Very interesting to read you
Good luck to you