Activities of Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS related to 2014/2237(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Reducing inequalities with a special focus on child poverty (A8-0310/2015 - Inês Cristina Zuber) EL
Amendments (31)
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. Whereas, under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, all children should be guaranteed the right to an education, health-care services, housing, protection, participation in decisions that affect them, leisure and free time, a balanced diet, and the receipt of care in a family environment;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. Whereas the factors with the greatest influence on child poverty are wealth- redistribution policies and labour policy9 a, particularly parental income levels and social rights; __________________ 9aSave the Children, ‘Child Poverty and Social Exclusion in Europe’, Brussels, 2014, p.5
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A B. Whereas, although the children of parents with very low work intensity are 56.7 % more likely to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion, families with high work intensity remain at risk of child poverty today (Romania, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Latvia, Slovakia, Poland or Luxembourg);
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. Whereas the destrucdistribution of incomes has a major impact on reducing cycles of social inequality and the Member States with lowest rates of child poverty – such as Sweden and Denmark – are also those with the lowest levels of general poverty and inequality;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. Whereas between 2008 and 2012, the number of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Europe (EU27+Norway, Iceland and Switzerland) rose by almost one million, increasing by half a million between 2011 and 2012 alone9, and, according to data from Eurostat in 2013, 26.5 million children in the EU28 are at risk of falling into poverty or social exclusion; in the EU27, the risk of poverty or social exclusion increased between 2008 and 2012 from 26.5% to 28%; in 2013, in the Member States of the EU28, 28% of the total population under 18 was at risk of poverty or social exclusion and, in the vast majority of countries, the risk of poverty and social exclusion is greater for children than for adults; __________________ 9 Save the Children, ‘Child Poverty and Social Exclusion in Europe’, Brussels, 2014, p.5
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. Whereas the latest reports by the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless highlight an increase in women, young people and families with children (with migrant children over- represented) taken into homeless shelters;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. Whereas the first few years, even before compulsory education, are crucial to children’s development, given that it is during this period that they develop essential capacities and that access to a high-quality education has a significant impact on self-esteem, ability to participate in social life, better health, social inclusion and, in the future, access to better job opportunities; whereas the educational gap between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds has increased;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. Whereas, in 2012, the average school-dropout rate was 13 % for the EU and over 20 % in some countries (Portugal, Spain and Malta)9 a __________________ 9aEU-SILC (2013) EU statistics on Income and Living Conditions
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
H b. Whereas working parents who do not have access to a nursery school are often forced to leave children in the care of another child, or to recourse to paid and uncertified informal care networks, which jeopardises their children’s safety and well-being;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
I a. Whereas children born into poverty are at greater risk of suffering chronic illnesses and having more health problems, which leads to the perpetuation of inequality;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
I b. Whereas, even in countries where the right to health is enshrined in law, many children do not have access to appointments with a general practitioner or dentist, particularly because of a lack of available public services; whereas some children have very limited access to health-care services, which does not go beyond accident and emergency;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I c (new)
Recital I c (new)
I c. Whereas the financial problems of families have been contributing to increased mental health problems in parents and to instances of family breakdown, which has undeniable repercussions on the psychological and social well-being of children;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I d (new)
Recital I d (new)
I d. Whereas the environment in which a child lives, including the pre-birth period, has a decisive influence on the development of the cognitive system, on communication and language, and on social and emotional skills, which will have a consequence for health, well- being, participation in communities and learning capacities9 b; __________________ 9b Drivers, 2014, ‘Universal, quality early childhood programmes that are responsive to need promote better and more equal outcomes in childhood and later life’.
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
J a. Whereas child poverty has a high economic cost for societies, particularly as regards increased spending on social support;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. Whereas families living at risk of poverty are more likely to live in unsanitary and unsafe areas, and that 17% of children in the EU28 still live in these conditions, with 15 countries above average11; the price of energy means that many children live in homes without heating, which increases the number of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases; the increasing number of evictions due to the inability to pay housing costs has pushed children into shelters; __________________ 11 EU-SILC (2013) Statistics on Income and Living Conditions
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
K a. Whereas migrant children are over- represented in the group at risk of poverty and there is more discrimination against them because of language barriers, with this situation worse for illegal immigrant children; whereas, today, with the intensification of migratory flows, there are a growing number of cases in which the children of emigrants remain in the country of their birth under the care of other family members or third parties, negatively influencing the children’s development, particularly at the emotional level;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)
Recital K b (new)
K b. Whereas there should be financial reinforcement of food-aid programmes aimed at disadvantaged families, since a growing number of children only have access to food at school; whereas these programmes are important, but cannot be seen as a long-term solution;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recommends that Member States increase the quantity, amounts, scope and effectiveness of the social support specifically directed to children, but also to parents (such as unemployment benefits) and to promote labour laws that guarantee social rights and security to families and fight precarious employment while promoting work with rights;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Member States actually to realise the right to housing, by guaranteeing citizens and families an appropriate home that meets their needs and ensures their well-being, privacy and quality of life, thereby contributing to the achievement of social justice and cohesion and the combating of social exclusion and poverty;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recommends that Member States’ national budgets contain visible and transparent provisions for appropriations and costs to combat child poverty and to fulfil their duty to protect children;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Recommends that the Commission and Member States set targets for reducing child poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on Member States to introduce legislation to protect or increase maternity and paternity rights; regrets the announced withdrawal of the revised draft of the Maternity Leave Directive by the Commission, which guarantees working women more rights during the pre- and post-birth periods;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recommends that Member States develop proactive social policies that prevent poverty and the departureremoval of children from their family environment, ensuring that it is not through poverty that children are institutionalised; calls on the Member States to use the EU Structural Funds and the European Fund for Strategic Investments to support the transfer of institutionalised children to host families and community-based services;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recommends that Member States guarantee all children access to free, quality public education at all ages, including early childhood, and establish appropriate teacher-student ratios, in order to safeguard the safety and well-being of children;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 A. Calls on the Member States to promote inclusive schooling, which should involve not just increasing the number of special education teachers, but also integrating children with special educational needs into normal classes;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Urges Member States to guarantee universal, public, free and quality health care with regard to prevention and primary care, access to diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, guaranteeing women the right to sexual and reproductive health by ensuring health care for babies, maternity care in the pre- and post-natal care period, particularly in the case of premature birth, access to family doctors, dentists and mental health specialists for all children and their families, and integrate these aspects into national and the EU public health strategies;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on Member States, particularly those where social inequalities are greater, to strengthen social rights that the state must guarantee, increasing the number of employees and technicianprofessionals in the social security services working with and for children and their families, and increasing the medical, psychological and social care of children;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to participate actively in combating the trafficking of children for any form of exploitation, including work, forced marriage, illegal adoption, illegal activities and sexual exploitation;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13 b. Calls on the Member States to support, through their municipalities, local centres for supporting children and their families, particularly in the communities and/or areas most affected by the issue of child poverty, which provide not just for legal aid and/or advice, parental advice and school support, but also for education and guidance on a healthy lifestyle and on safe Internet use, amongst other things;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 c (new)
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13 c. Recommends that the Member States guarantee refugee citizens, particularly children and young people, the same rights of access to education, health care, work and housing as other citizens of the Member State in question;
Amendment 305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Recommends that the Commission and Member States develop statistical methods that integrate multidimensional indicators in measuring poverty to take into account the limitations of relative poverty measurements and the work of the UNDP, UNICEF and the OECD, going beyond the AROPE(parents’ income, access to high-quality public services, participation in social and cultural activities, access to adequate formal and informal education services, exposure to physical risk, safety, stable family environment, and level of life satisfaction) and to take into account the limitations of relative poverty measurements and the work of the UNDP, UNICEF and the OECD, which take these multidimensional indicators into account in their statistics; recommends that these indicators be cross-referenced with indicators of socioeconomic classification (parents’ income and literacy level, country of origin, gender, disability, geographical location, etc.), going beyond the AROPE (at risk of poverty and/or exclusion) indicators;