2.23m children at risk: UNICEF seeks €100 in Spain
The new school year brings extra bills for families across Spain, from classroom materials to school and after-school activities. In Madrid on 2 September, UNICEF Spain warned that child poverty damages children’s educational outcomes and called for a universal monthly child-rearing payment. Around 2.23 million children in Spain are at risk of monetary poverty, the organisation said.
For many children, returning to class brings support and stability. But UNICEF Spain president Mª Ángeles Espinosa said it can pile fresh pressure on other families, deepening feelings of inequality and exclusion.
School costs add to family pressure
The cost of starting a new term can widen the gap in who can buy school supplies and take part in activities in and beyond school, UNICEF said. Families must also deal with applications for grants and school support at the same time.
Espinosa stressed that poverty does not disappear once lessons begin. Equal opportunities need more than a good education, she said: children also need broad economic security and protection.
€100 payment could lift 270,000 children out of poverty
UNICEF’s report says a universal child-rearing payment of €100 a month, set on a progressive scale, could cut child poverty by 3.6 percentage points. That would mean 11.2% fewer children living in poverty, with more than 270,000 leaving that situation.
The organisation also points to monthly payments of between €100 and €200 per child. It wants Spain’s autonomous communities to strengthen minimum-income and family-support schemes for households with vulnerable children.
UNICEF said support should reach more families, provide higher amounts and work alongside other benefits and income. It also called for closer coordination between authorities, a single social support office and automatic links between minimum-income schemes, the Ingreso Mínimo Vital and education help including meal, materials, transport and supplementary activity grants.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com