Child Poverty and Social Exclusion in Europe: A matter of children’s rights

Europe’s current economic, financial and social crisis is creating an increase in relative and absolute child poverty and social exclusion across the continent. Even in countries that have experienced economic growth in recent years, not everyone has a share in the prosperity, especially not children. The gap between rich and poor is increasing, including in the traditionally egalitarian Nordic welfare states.

In this report, Save the Children (SC) analyses and comments on available Eurostat data in relation to children at risk of poverty or social exclusion. SC research shows that the effectiveness of redistributive state interventions represents a major factor in influencing child poverty, along with employment. Beyond analyses, the report explains the rights-based approach to addressing child poverty and social exclusion, which is covered by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This section is concluded with a number of recommendations addressed to European governments and institutions, in particular to support the implementations of the European Commission’s long-awaited Recommendation: Investing in Children: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage.