Activities of Sandra PEREIRA related to 2023/2066(INI)
Reports (1)
REPORT on reducing inequalities and promoting social inclusion in times of crisis for children and their families
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on reducing inequalities and promoting social inclusion in times of crisis for children and their families
Amendments (107)
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Takes the view that so-called austerity measures (significant curtailment of social support for children and families, a rise in unemployment and mass use of precarious employment, an increase in taxes) and budget cuts in response to the 2008-2013 financial crisis widened inequalities and played a role in declining living conditions for children, and that those factors have been exacerbated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensuing inflation and the escalation of war in eastern Europe.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Takes the view that the state of affairs caused by COVID-19 led to a surge in unemployment rates in Member States; considers that the consequences of that state of affairs are particularly serious for women, who are affected directly through loss of their jobs or job security and indirectly through budget cuts for public services and welfare assistance; takes the view, therefore, that, if it is to be tackled, it is essential to address the dimension of female poverty in the handling of this situation and the search for solutions;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a drastic impact on the lives of all women, especially working women; notes that a disproportionate share of the burden was borne by teleworking women, whose lives were made harder by the need to combine work, childcare and domestic chores; points out that many women were faced with higher outgoings and lower pay;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Notes that the deteriorating social and economic picture caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has increased all forms of abuse and violence towards women, together with prostitution, in violation of their human rights; stresses the need to step up public, financial and human resources in order to support groups at risk of poverty and tackle situations posing a risk to children and young people, the elderly, people with a disability and the homeless;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that, in 2021, 24.4% of children (under the age of 18) in the EU (19.8 million) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion; notes that this figure exceeds 30% in some countries;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Takes the view that children who grow up in poverty or as victims of social exclusion find it harder to succeed at school, to remain healthy and reach their full potential later in life; notes that social investment in individual capacities during children's early years is particularly beneficial for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and may generate significant social returns, as it is crucial to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Takes the view that, under the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which all the Member States are signatories, all children must be given the right to education, health care services, housing and protection, to take part in decisions that affect them, to leisure and free time, to a balanced diet and to receive care in a family environment;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas child poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon stemming from household poverty, meaning that low- income families, single-parent families – mostly made up of women and their children – and large families are at greater risk of poverty; whereas the redistribution of wealth has a decisive impact on cycles of social inequality, and the deteriorating national wage policies and social protection systems are contributing to the growing risk of poverty and social exclusion and, consequently, to the growing risk of child poverty; whereas this phenomenon requires a multidimensional response, which necessarily includes improving employment and job security, guaranteeing and enforcing rights, as well as increasing income and ensuring universal access to quality public services, as the most effective tools for combating poverty;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Takes the view that single-parent families, especially families headed by single mothers, are at greater risk of poverty or social exclusion (42.1 % compared to 29.6 % in family units with two adults and three or more children), which is related to the feminisation of poverty, women’s over-representation in precarious work and as part-time workers, the disproportionate time spent by women in poorly paid work, interruptions in women’s careers to care for children or other family members, and the pay gap between men and women1-B; _________________ 1-B https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/prod ucts-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20211028-1
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Takes the view that early childhood education and care have a decisive impact on the cognitive development of children, given that they develop essential capacities in their first five years of life and that access to high- quality education lays the foundations for later success in life in terms of education, well-being, employability, and social integration, and has a significant impact on self-esteem; takes the view that the educational differences among children from different socioeconomic backgrounds has grown; take the view that 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 resort to paid and uncertified informal care networks, which jeopardises their children’s safety and well-being; takes the view that childcare and pre-school education may play a significant role in compensating for the socio-economic status of children at risk of poverty and foster the integration of parents, especially mothers, into the labour market; takes the view, lastly, that inclusive education addresses the broad range among all pupils by bolstering participation in terms of learning, cultural and community values;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Highlights the right to comfortable housing that meets the needs of children and their families and protects their well- being, privacy and quality of life; deplores the housing policies that are driving families out of cities in a number of Member States, and that distort sociability mechanisms and make it difficult to build support networks, increasing the likelihood that children end up abandoned and excluded; urges the Member States to support a public housing policy that tackles property speculation and guarantees this right;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas, in 2021, 24.4 % of children (under the age of 18) in the EU (19.8 million) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion; whereas this figure exceeds 30 % in some countries;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas, in 2021, the percentage of children (under the age of 18) in the EU who were at risk of poverty or social exclusion was greater than that of adults, at 21.1 %; whereas children were at greater risk of poverty or social exclusion than adults in 18 of the 27 EU Member States;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas over a fifth (22.5 %) of the EU population living in households with dependent children was at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2021;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Stresses that all children have the right to be protected from abuse, violence and neglect and that research has concluded that financial pressures within families and cuts in public services put children at greater risk ;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas children who grow up in poverty or as victims of social exclusion find it harder to succeed at school, to remain healthy and reach their full potential later in life; whereas social investment in individual capacities during children's early years is particularly beneficial for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and may generate significant social returns, as it is crucial to breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)
Recital A e (new)
Ae. whereas so-called austerity measures (significant curtailment of social support for children and families, a rise in unemployment and mass use of precarious employment, an increase in taxes) and budget cuts in response to the 2008-2013 financial crisis widened inequalities and played a role in declining living conditions for children, and whereas those factors have been exacerbated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensuing inflation and the escalation of war in eastern Europe.
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Condemns all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect with regard to children; urges the Member States to develop and apply integrated prevention and child protection systems with a view to doing away with violence, abuse, exploitation and negligence, involving public services (including schools and health systems), to create rapid response conditions for those situations, providing a protective environment and helping to empower children;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A f (new)
Recital A f (new)
Af. whereas women are at greater risk of poverty than men, and whereas tackling women’s poverty is not only important in its own right but also of vital importance in efforts to reduce child poverty; whereas the decision to have children has an impact on the perpetuation of inequality in access to the labour market, with consequences on income inequality between men and women; whereas the percentage difference in the employment rate of men and women without children stands at 1 %, for those who have a child younger than six, the rate stands at 21 % and climbs to 37 % for those with three children1-A; _________________ 1-A Eurofound, 'Living and Working Conditions in Europe 2021', p. 73
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Stresses that the right to work is an essential precondition if women are to enjoy economic independence, professional fulfilment and effective equal rights and therefore precarious employment should be eradicated through the mandatory application of the principle that for every actual job there should be a permanent post, and by recognising and enhancing the right to work with rights;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A g (new)
Recital A g (new)
Ag. whereas single-parent families, especially families headed by single mothers, are at greater risk of poverty or social exclusion (42.1 % compared to 29.6 % in family units with two adults and three or more children)1-B, which is related to the feminisation of poverty, women’s over-representation in precarious work and as part-time workers, the disproportionate time spent by women in poorly paid work, interruptions in women’s careers to care for children or other family members, and the pay gap between men and women; _________________ 1-B https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/prod ucts-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20211028-1
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4e. Stresses that measures to achieve proper work-life balance are important in ensuring that care-giving responsibilities are equally divided between women and men and addressing income and employment disparities; notes that the achievement of a work-life balance depends on the availability and accessibility of high-quality public care services, which should be provided free of charge; notes that maternity benefits should be fully upheld and maintained, extending leave and increasing fully paid leave entitlements; stresses that public policies for the protection and promotion of nursing and breastfeeding are needed;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 f (new)
Paragraph 4 f (new)
4f. Points out that cuts in public budgets ensuing from the European Union’s macro-structural economic policies, in particular the implementation of ‘economic governance’ measures, are increasing and will continue to increase gender inequalities and female unemployment, women being in the majority in the public sector and the principal beneficiaries of social policies, and furthering yet more the feminisation of poverty, and therefore a change in policy is required;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A h (new)
Recital A h (new)
Ah. whereas, in 2021, 50.5 % of children whose parents’ level of education was low were at risk of poverty, compared with 7.7 % of children whose parents’ level of education was high1-C; _________________ 1-C https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/prod ucts-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20211028-1
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, adopted in 2021, aims to reduce the number of children at risk of poverty and social exclusion by, at least, 5 million by 2030; whereas even ifachieving this target were achievedould mean around 15 million children in the EU would still be at risk of poverty and social exclusion by that time; whereas combating child poverty should be given greater visibility at the highest political level in the EU;
Amendment 88 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Recommends that the Member States guarantee all children access to free, inclusive and high-quality formal and informal public education at all ages, fostering their emotional, social, cognitive and physical development, establish appropriate teacher-student ratios, safeguarding the safety and well-being of children, and ensure that all children can benefit from inclusive high-quality education and thus maximise the education systems’ impact when it comes to pushing for equal opportunities and breaking exclusion cycles;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas, on 14 June 2021, the Council of the European Union adopted the Recommendation on a Child Guarantee, in order to help combat and prevent poverty and social exclusion, ensuring children have access to essential services, for example, free care services and education for early childhood, free education (including additional activities in schools and, at least, one healthy meal per school day), free healthcare, healthy nutrition and adequate housing, as set out in the Council Recommendation; whereas all Member States are required to allocate, for the implementation of the Child Guarantee national plans, an appropriate amount of their ESF+ resources; whereas, on 22 February 2023, eight Member States had still not submitted their national plans; whereas, in several Member States, the monthly amount allocated for the Child Guarantee is insufficient to compensate for the loss of family income caused by the surge in inflation; whereas in the Member States where the rate of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion was greater than the EU average for the period between 2017 and 2019, at least 5 % of ESF+ resources should be directed towards addressing the issue of child poverty;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Highlights the importance of investments in public and free education that ensure specific teaching methods and an individualised approach for children belonging to more vulnerable social groups, such as families and communities subject to the most diverse forms of exclusion, immigrants and persons with disabilities; stresses that that approach should include collaboration between teachers, social and educational specialists, the families and the communities;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas EU financing enables investment at national level to combat child poverty and promote social inclusion; whereas, in addition to the ESF+, other sources can be directly or indirectly used to finance programmes that have an impact on the lives of children and their families in all sorts of ways, such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD); whereas most of these funds have seen real terms cuts during the last few multiannual financial frameworks;
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Highlights the major contribution of women in the fields of employment, culture, education, science, and research; recognises the profound deterioration in the living conditions of women employed in arts and culture, and in micro and small agricultural and rural businesses resulting from the lack of investment and support in economic and cultural activities;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas the Recommendation 'Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage', tabled by the Commission in February 2013, provides guidance to the EU Member States on how to combat child poverty and social exclusion through measures such as: family support and benefits; access to quality services; access to early childhood education; whereas that recommendation included the definition of strategies developed in accordance with three key pillars: access to adequate resources; access to affordable quality services; children’s right to participate;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
Bd. whereas, under the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which all the Member States are signatories, all children should be given the right to education, healthcare services, housing and protection, to take part in decisions that affect them, to leisure and free time, to a balanced diet and to receive care in a family environment;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B e (new)
Recital B e (new)
Be. whereas, according to UNICEF, accessible and quality early childhood care for all children, and at reasonable prices for their families, remains inaccessible to many, even in the richest countries in the world;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B f (new)
Recital B f (new)
Bf. whereas, in the EU in 2021, only 36.2 % of children under the age of three had access to a formal early childhood education and care (ECEC) system, while this value goes up to 83.4 % for children between 3 and the minimum compulsory age to start primary school2-A; _________________ 2-A https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/ view/ILC_CAINDFORMAL__custom_60 15294/default/table?lang=en (data corresponds to the sum of the formal options that operate between 1 and 29 hours and those that operate over 30 hours)
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B g (new)
Recital B g (new)
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B h (new)
Recital B h (new)
Bh. whereas in Europe the majority of families have to pay tuition fees to access ECEC services, for the group of children under three; whereas the lack of access to these services – often from the relationship between scarce availability and elevated costs – affects families from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and single-parent families, creating a process of early exclusion for children in this situation; whereas, even in countries where the average level of availability of ECEC services is high, access to nurseries falls sharply among children at risk of poverty and social exclusion; whereas this is, chiefly, due to the lack of networks of free and universal public nurseries of high quality;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas childcare and pre-early childhood education and care have a decisive impact on the cognitive development of children, given that they develop essential capacities in their first 5 years of life and that access to high-quality education lays the foundations for later success in life in terms of education, well-being, employability, and social integration, and has a significant impact on self-esteem; whereas the educational differences among children from different socioeconomic backgrounds has grown; 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 resort to paid and uncertified informal care networks, which jeopardises their children’s safety and well-being; whereas childcare and pre- school education may play a significant role in compensating for the socio- economic status of children at risk of poverty and foster the integration of parents, especially mothers, into the labour market; and whereas an inclusive education addresses the broad range of needs among all pupils by bolstering participation in terms of learning, cultural and community values;
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission to refrain from recommending reforms that lead to cuts in and the weakening of public administration in the Member States, aimed at promoting the relaxation of employment relationships and the privatisation of public services, which have led to the weakening and, in some cases, the undermining of the social and labour rights of children and their families; deplores the recent statements by the President of the ECB, who criticised the investments by national governments in social responses aimed at addressing the increased cost of living; takes the view that this restriction of investment and the destruction of public services violate children's rights and constitute a violation of international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls on the Member States to strengthen social rights and access to services and social protection that the state must guarantee, increasing the number of employees and specialists in social security services working with and for children and their families, and increasing medical, psychological and social care, in line with an early intervention approach;
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Asks the Commission and the Member States to establish a system to monitor breastfeeding at European Union level, in order to understand the reality and help to formulate policies promoting breastfeeding, in line with WHO recommendations;
Amendment 117 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Considers it imperative that the Member States develop policies that address the prevalence of child labour in the EU; stresses, in this sense, the recommendations of the ILO, which highlights the need to enlarge social protection for children and their families in order to mitigate the poverty and uncertainty that perpetuate child labour, including: ensuring free, good-quality education, until at least the minimum legal age to enter the employment market; ensuring the birth of every child is registered so that children have a legal identity and can enjoy their rights from birth; promoting decent work, which provides a fair wage, with a special focus on workers in the informal economy; promoting adequate rural ways of life, including by supporting economic diversification, investing in infrastructure and services, and extending the protection and planning of crops, particularly in family farming, which partly continues to depend on the whole household to take care of the agricultural processes; ensuring there is legislation that protects children, supported by the state instruments required for its application; addressing issues of gender and discrimination that increase the risk of child labour, particularly for girls, related to unpaid domestic work;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7e. Stresses the need to enhance the responsibility of states and employers for maternity and paternity rights, which include the right of women to be both mothers and workers without forfeiting labour rights;
Amendment 119 #
7f. Calls on the Member States to establish a comprehensive set of rules rejecting the persistent practice of asking women, in job interviews, about the possibility of them falling pregnant or if they are pregnant at the time of applying for the job; underlines that it is a form of workplace harassment and rejects the pressure it puts on working mothers;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas spending on education, especially as regards school materials and transportation, is essentially borne by households in most countries; whereas this expenditure is, among other factors, one of the main reasons for school dropouts; whereas the EU average rate of early school dropouts stood at 10 %, but1-A this value goes up for specific groups, such as children from the Roma community and children with disabilities; _________________ 1-A https://eur- lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:e 769a102-8d88-11eb-b85c- 01aa75ed71a1.0002.02/DOC_1&format= PDF
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Stresses that EU financing enables investment at national level to combat child poverty and promote social inclusion; reiterates that, in addition to the ESF+, other sources can be directly or indirectly used to finance programmes that have an impact on the lives of children and their families in all sorts of ways, such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD); underlines that most of these funds have seen real terms cuts during the last few multiannual financial frameworks;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas, according to the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), one in five young Europeans still lack adequate reading, mathematics or science competences;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Amendment 128 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop and strengthen social responses that aim to address child poverty and social exclusion, increasing the quantity, the amounts and the scope of the social support specifically aimed at children, but also at parents who are unemployed or in work that does not provide a comfortable life, such as unemployment benefit and the guaranteed minimum income in particular; calls on the Member States to implement policies that value wages, work with rights and collective bargaining and recruitment, eradicating precarity and poverty for those who work;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas even in countries where the right to health is enshrined in law, many children do not have access to adequate healthcare and some have extremely limited access to services other than emergency services, putting at risk the health of women during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the health of babies and childrenarticularly consultations with family doctors and nurses, as well as other medical specialities, especially because of a lack of public services, putting at risk the health of women during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the health of babies and children; whereas children born into a situation of poverty and social exclusion are at greater risk of suffering chronic illnesses and having more health problems, which leads to the perpetuation of inequality;
Amendment 132 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Calls on the Member States to implement legislation that protects or enhances maternity, paternity and parental rights, allowing for a more effective work-family life balance, that makes it possible for women to return to work after pregnancy and maternity leave, and makes it possible to breastfeed; highlights that implementing legislation related to maternity, paternity and parental rights has the potential to give a great boost to the fight against gender- based discrimination and pay discrimination;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas vaccination is the main tool to prevent serious, contagious and, sometimes, deadly diseases; whereas vaccination rates against measles have fallen in 14 out of 35 OECD countries, according to data from the available time series3-A; _________________ 3-A UNICEF (2020), 'Innocenti Report Card 16. Worlds of Influence - Understanding What Shapes Child Well- being in Rich Countries', p. 4
Amendment 136 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
8d. Stresses that EU funds are complex to manage, which makes them inaccessible to organisations with fewer technical resources; highlights that more flexible, simplified management procedures and investing in technical assistance close to where it is needed can contribute to empowering people and infrastructure at more organisations supporting children and young people; underlines that national co-financing rates, for the Member States and the beneficiaries, should be reduced based on the socio-economic situation, so that for regions with socio-economic indicators below the EU average the co-financing rates should never be less than 90%;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Amendment 142 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 e (new)
Paragraph 8 e (new)
8e. Calls on the Member States to devote greater attention to the availability of basic healthcare for children in deprived areas and in remote and inaccessible regions;
Amendment 143 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 f (new)
Paragraph 8 f (new)
8f. Recognises the vital role of schools as providers of a daily nutritious meal (in many cases, the only meal) and promoters of nutritional education that goes beyond their walls; urges the Member States to ensure, at least, one good-quality, free meal at all levels of compulsory education;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas in Europe, one in five children is a victim of some form of sexual violence, and most abuse occurs within a hypothetical framework of trust, such as within families or related institutions; whereas children represent around a quarter of victims of trafficking in the EU, the majority of whom are girls abducted for purposes of sexual exploitation4-A. _________________ 4-A European Commission: EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, 24 March 2021
Amendment 144 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 g (new)
Paragraph 8 g (new)
8g. Urges the Member States to guarantee universal, public, free and quality health care with regard to prevention, immunisation programmes and primary care, access to diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, and to access to the most diverse range of medical and therapeutic specialist treatment, guaranteeing women the right to sexual and reproductive health by ensuring health care for babies, maternity care and home visits in the pre- and post- natal care period, access to family doctors, nurses, dentists, ophthalmologists, family counselling services and mental health specialists for all children and their families; highlights the value of vaccinating children and the need to fight the hotbeds of misinformation with regard to the benefits of vaccination;
Amendment 145 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 h (new)
Paragraph 8 h (new)
8h. Recommends that Member States develop proactive social policies that the departure of children from their family environment, ensuring that it is not through poverty and exclusion that children are institutionalised; calls on the Member States to ensure that recourse to institutionalising children and young people happens only as a last resort and to invest in safe foster care systems for children and young people to help the transition from institutional care to family and community-based care;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb whereas all children have the right to be protected from abuse, violence and neglect and that research has concluded that financial pressures within families and cuts in public services put children at greater risk;
Amendment 146 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 i (new)
Paragraph 8 i (new)
8i. Recommends that the Member States provide the necessary support to ensure the right to culture, sport and leisure, access to open space and a healthy environment for all children, with a focus on ensuring equal access and quality for children in poverty, children in remote areas, children with disabilities, children belonging to national or ethnic, religious, linguistic and migrant minorities, children moving within the EU regardless of their nationality and children left behind; recalls the right to free time and to take part in games and recreational activities, as laid down in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas bullying by peers is a serious problem, especially in schools, and harms relationships and the mental health of children and young people; whereas, according to a 2018 PISA study, 23% of students reported suffering harassment (physical, verbal or in relationships) at school at least once a month;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
Ed. whereas the internet has a huge potential for learning, fun and peer-to- peer interaction, although it poses undeniable risks for children and young people, which are lacking in safety measures and regulation; whereas a third of girls and 20% of boys have encountered disturbing content once a month in the past year; whereas 15% of LGBTQI+ respondents aged 15-17 have suffered online harassment because of their sexual orientation or gender4-B; _________________ 4-B European Commission (2021): EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, p.18.
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E e (new)
Recital E e (new)
Ee. 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 an impact on health, well-being, participation in communities and learning capacities;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E f (new)
Recital E f (new)
Ef whereas families with parents with disabilities are more likely to face the risk of poverty, family breakdown and difficulty establishing themselves in the job market;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E g (new)
Recital E g (new)
Eg. whereas migrant children are over-represented in the group at risk of poverty and there is more discrimination against them because of language barriers, and whereas the situation is worse for irregular immigrant children;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E h (new)
Recital E h (new)
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E i (new)
Recital E i (new)
Ei. whereas, according to a report by Save the Children4-D, more children are living in areas affected by armed conflicts than at any other time in the last two decades (especially in Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Iraq, Mali, Nigeria and Somalia), with 100 000 babies dying every year as a result of conflicts; whereas 420 million children were living in areas affected by conflicts in 2017 (18% of all the children in the world) – 30 million more than in the previous year; whereas the war in Ukraine has aggravated this situation; _________________ 4-D Save the Children (2019), 'Stop the War on Children: Protecting children in 21st century conflict'
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E j (new)
Recital E j (new)
Ej. whereas environmental issues such as pollution, traffic, contaminated land and unsafe drinking water pose a threat to physical and mental health, especially for children living in poverty;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E k (new)
Recital E k (new)
Ek. whereas children have difficulties in gaining access to justice and in obtaining effective redress for violations of their rights; whereas the structure of judicial proceedings is not adapted to their needs, namely in relation to communication with officers of the judiciary and the fact that there are not always mechanisms to avoid multiple hearings or the gathering of evidence;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E l (new)
Recital E l (new)
El. whereas only one in four children consider that their rights are respected by society in general4-E; _________________ 4-E European Commission (2021): EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, p.4.
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E m (new)
Recital E m (new)
Em. whereas UNICEF's First 1000 Days campaign maintains that a child's brain develops at an unprecedented rate in the first years of life, providing a unique opportunity for the child's full development, in terms of maximising their potential to learn, grow, establish healthy relationships and contribute to society; whereas loving, positive and calm relationships between an adult and a child in the early years of life are vital for promoting a child's brain development, mental health and well-being throughout life, and whereas early childhood presents a unique window of opportunity to make a difference in a child's life, helping to eliminate potential social inequalities and boost their development;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas playing gives children the opportunity to express themselves in a symbolic way and forms an essential basis of the way they think, enabling them to share their emotions, such as sadness, anger, fears and distress; whereas playing affords children access to tools for learning, autonomy, interaction, conflict management, freedom and satisfaction, which ensure a more empathetic and supportive life in society;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas, according to information from ILO-UNICEF the latest global estimates indicate that 160 million children worldwide – 63 million girls and 97 million boys – were in child labour at the beginning of 2020, which accounts for almost 1 in 10 children worldwide; whereas 3.6 million children on the European continent are engaged in child labour5-A _________________ 5-A https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public /---ed_norm/--- ipec/documents/publication/wcms_797515 .pdf
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to refrain from recommending reforms that lead to cuts in and the weakening of public administration in the Member States, aimed at promoting the relaxation of employment relationships and the privatisation of public services, which have led to the weakening and, in some cases, the undermining of the social and labour rights of children and their families; deplores the recent statements by the President of the ECB, who criticised the investments by national governments in social responses aimed at addressing the increased cost of living; takes the view that this restriction of investment and the destruction of public services violate children's rights and constitute a violation of international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop and strengthen social responses that aim to address child poverty and social exclusion, increasing the quantity, the amounts and the scope of the social support specifically aimed at children, but also at parents who are unemployed or in work that does not provide a comfortable life, such as unemployment benefit and the guaranteed minimum income in particular; calls on the Member States to implement policies that value wages, work with rights and collective bargaining and recruitment, eradicating precarity and poverty for those who work;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses the low level of ambition of the targets for cutting child poverty under the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan; calls on the Commission and the Member States to set consistent targets for the eradication of poverty, specifically child poverty, over the next decade;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States to implement legislation that protects or enhances maternity, paternity and parental rights, allowing for a more effective work- life balance that makes it possible for women to return to work after pregnancy and maternity leave, and for breastfeeding; highlights that implementing legislation related to maternity, paternity and parental rights has the potential to give a great boost to the fight against gender- based discrimination and pay discrimination;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses that child poverty and social exclusion require the adoption of a life-cycle approach which contributes towards breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty risks, that reflects the different needs of early childhood, primary childhood and adolescence, applying a whole-child oriented approach by measuring the number of deprivations each child experiences simultaneously, thereby identifying those most deprived, and measuring not only monetary poverty but also multidimensional deprivations;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Calls on the Member States to strengthen social rights and access to services and social protection that the state must guarantee, increasing the number of employees and specialists in social security services working with and for children and their families, and increasing medical, psychological and social care, in line with an early intervention approach;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses that EU funds are complex to manage, which makes them inaccessible to organisations with fewer technical resources; highlights that more flexible, simplified management procedures and investing in technical assistance close to where it is needed can contribute to empowering people and infrastructure at more organisations supporting children and young people; underlines that national co-financing rates, for the Member States and the beneficiaries, should be reduced based on the socio-economic situation, so that for regions with socio-economic indicators below the EU average the co-financing rates should never be less than 90%;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Stresses the need to create a framework for assessing policies for children and children's rights at EU level which is easy to access and includes multidimensional indicators disaggregated by age, gender and particular disadvantaged groups that make it possible to measure changes in poverty, access to health services, vaccination rate, school attendance, housing conditions, access to urgent social services, protection from violence, access to justice, environmental conditions, level of satisfaction with life and the right to civic participation;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recommends that the Member States ensure that all children have access to formal and non-formal, public, free, inclusive and quality education at all ages, fostering their emotional, social, cognitive and physical development, establishing appropriate teacher-student ratios, safeguarding the safety and well- being of children, and ensure that all children can benefit from inclusive high- quality education and thus maximise the education systems’ impact when it comes to pushing for equal opportunities and breaking exclusion cycles;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Highlights the importance of investments in public and free education that ensure specific teaching methods and an individualised approach for children belonging to more vulnerable social groups, such as families and communities subject to the most diverse forms of exclusion, immigrants and persons with disabilities; stresses that that approach should include collaboration between teachers, social and educational specialists, the families and the communities;
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses, in view of the difficulties in accessing early childhood care in most Member States, the need for investment in early childhood education and care services, thereby creating or bolstering a public, universal and free response from the very beginning of the education process and guaranteeing equal access to education for every person; stresses the need to ensure that their workers are given the recognition they deserve by providing them with proper salaries and decent career paths;
Amendment 316 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the Member States to promote appropriate extracurricular activities that enable children to spend their time after school and during holidays doing something physically and mentally stimulating;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Calls on the Member States to devote greater attention to the availability of basic healthcare for children in deprived areas and in remote and inaccessible regions;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9c. Recognises the vital role of schools as providers of a daily nutritious meal (in many cases, the only meal) and promoters of nutritional education that goes beyond their walls; urges the Member States to ensure, at least, one good-quality, free meal at all levels of compulsory education;
Amendment 320 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9d. Urges the Member States to include food in their public health strategies by encouraging diet diversification and food fortification and through supplementation in order to protect children from the negative effects of malnutrition or undernutrition;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Member States to guarantee universal, public, free and quality healthcare for all children and their families with regard to prevention, immunisation programmes and primary care, access to diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, and to access to the most diverse range of medical and therapeutic specialist treatment, guaranteeing women the right to sexual and reproductive health by ensuring healthcare for babies, maternity care and home visits in the pre- and post-natal care period, access to family doctors, nurses, dentists, ophthalmologists, family counselling services and mental health specialists; highlights the value of vaccinating children and the need to fight the hotbeds of misinformation with regard to the benefits of vaccination;
Amendment 332 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Asks the Commission and the Member States to establish a system to monitor breastfeeding at European Union level, in order to understand the reality and help to formulate policies promoting breastfeeding, in line with WHO recommendations;
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights the right to comfortable housing that meets the needs of children and their families and ensures their well- being, privacy and quality of life; deplores the housing policies that are driving families out of cities in a number of Member States, and that distort sociability mechanisms and make it difficult to build support networks, increasing the likelihood that children end up abandoned and excluded; calls on the Member States to promote a public housing policy that tackles property speculation and guarantees this right;
Amendment 342 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Stresses the need to draw up strategies that promote decent housing, including energy efficiency and affordable energy; recalls that deteriorating housing stock, which affects energy efficiency, and rising energy prices, in particular, leave children and their families vulnerable to discomfort and risks to their physical safety;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Highlights the specific impact on children of problems caused by ecosystem degradation and climate change; calls on the Member States to take that into account when drawing up their climate change adaptation and mitigation plans by including specific solutions for children and young people;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Condemns all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect with regard to children; calls on the Member States to develop and implement integrated prevention and protection systems for children with a view to eradicating violence, abuse, exploitation and negligence, involving public services (including schools and health systems), to create rapid response conditions for those situations, providing a protective environment and helping to empower children;
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Amendment 367 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Recommends that Member States develop proactive social policies that avoid the departure of children from their family environment, ensuring that it is not through poverty and exclusion that children are institutionalised; calls on the Member States to ensure that recourse to institutionalising children and young people happens only as a last resort and to invest in safe foster care systems for children and young people to help the transition from institutional care to family and community-based care;
Amendment 370 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. SRecommends that the inclusion process for children and young asylum seekers minimises the use of institutionalisation as much as possible by smoothing the fostering process; stresses the need to invest in support and follow-up for children and young asylum seekers, their families and host institutions;
Amendment 376 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. 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 377 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Considers that the Commission and the Member States should, through their cooperation and development policy and in partnership with the competent international institutions, provide a specific response to the problems of children who live in conflict-affected areas, including by improving access to health and education services and by combating the use of children as soldiers, human shields or bargaining chips;
Amendment 378 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Calls on the Member States to create or enhance regulatory instruments that adapt the justice system to children's needs and their right to full access to justice, including by developing alternatives to legal proceedings;
Amendment 379 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Recommends that the Commission and the Member States develop guidelines to support the participation of children in the policy-making process, putting in place mechanisms which promote and ensure children’s participation in decision making that affects their lives, and to enable and encourage children to express informed views, ensuring that those views are given due weight and are reflected in the main decisions affecting them;
Amendment 380 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Recommends that the Member States provide the necessary support to ensure the right to culture, sport and leisure, access to open space and a healthy environment for all children, with a focus on ensuring equal access and quality for children in poverty, children in remote areas, children with disabilities, children belonging to national or ethnic, religious, linguistic and migrant minorities, children moving within the EU regardless of their nationality and children left behind; recalls the right to free time and to play as laid down in the UNCRC;
Amendment 381 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Recommends that the Commission and the Member States, in their policies for children or policies that have an impact on children, emphasise the right to play as a structural element of children's full development by putting in place infrastructure and programmes that reflect the importance of that right;