27 Amendments of Joëlle MÉLIN related to 2014/2237(INI)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. Whereas increased social inequalities lead to increased child poverty, children being the age group at greatest risk of poverty in 19 Member States of the EU, social inequalities may reproduce disadvantage across generations when parents neglect their responsibility to bring up their children properly and data indicate that the gap between rich and poor has increased throughout the EU as a result of the austerity policies imposed, including in countries with higher GDP;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. Whereas the destruction of incomes has a major impact on reducing cycles of social inequality; whereas such income destruction is the consequence of the austerity policies imposed by the European Union on the Member States;
Amendment 31 #
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; whereas, at the same time, these figures and poverty rates have worsened for all categories of people, irrespective of age or sex; __________________ 9 Save the Children, 'Child Poverty and Social Exclusion in Europe', Brussels, 2014, p.5.
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. Whereas it is alarming that in countries such as Estonia, Greece and Italy, the percentage of children who cannot eat meat, chicken or fish two days running has doubled since 2008 – this is also the case in all other EU countries; whereas malnutrition is a problem common to children in all social classes which most affects those from poor, culturally deprived backgrounds;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. Whereas organisations point out that the main cause of increasing child poverty is the so-called austerity measures imposed by the EU on the Member States (a significant reduction of social support to children and families, rising unemployment, the spread of precarious employment and an increase in the tax burden), UNICEF states that budget cuts, particularly in the Mediterranean countries, have increased inequalities and helped worsen the living conditions of children10 so that these policies violate the rights of children and constitute a violation of international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; __________________ 10 UNICEF Office of Research (2014), ‘Children of the Recession: The impact of the economic crisis on child well-being in rich countries’, Innocenti Report Card 12, UNICEF Office of Research, Florence.
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. Whereas child poverty is first and foremost family poverty; whereas single- parent families, especially families headed by single mothers, are at greater risk of poverty or social exclusion (49.8% compared to 25.2%), which is due to the feminisation of poverty and wage discrimination between men and womeninstability of the labour market and Europeans’ difficulties in finding decent employment; whereas women are increasingly forced into precarious or part-time jobs, which are therefore poorly paid; whereas public policies recently adopted by the Member States and the dilution of the concept of ‘parenthood’ are increasingly eroding the longevity of the family unit and intergenerational solidarity;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. Whereas the effects of poverty and social exclusion on children can last a lifetime and continue into future generations; that the educational gap between children from different socio- economic backgrounds has increased (in 11 countries, the provision of education to children between the ages of 0 and 3 reaches no more than 15% coverage); whereas extra-EU migratory flows are stopping children from assimilating into the Member States’ education systems;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. Whereas spending on education expenses, especially as regards school materials and transportation, is essentially borne by households in most countries; whereas in rich Member States such as France, a large proportion of the aid awarded unchecked to families for raising their children is often used by the recipients for other purposes;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. Whereas, even in countries where the right to health is enshrined in law, there are many families, and by extension children, who do not have access to a family doctor or dentist;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. 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 – direct consequences of the budgetary restrictions and austerity measures imposed by the EU – put children at greater risk and that so-calledthese austerity measures are leading to greater violence against children;
Amendment 105 #
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 increasing number of evictions due to the inability or refusal to pay housing costs has pushed children into shelters; __________________ 11 EU-SILC (2013) European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions.
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recommends that Member States increasethat the Commission give Member States complete freedom to amend, according to the number of dependent children, the quantity, amounts, scope and effectiveness of the social support specifically directed to children, but also to parentfamilies (such as unemployment benefits) and to promote labour laws that guarantee social rights and security to families and fight precarious employmen; stresses, however, that such aid must under no circumstances replace any sources of income, and that action must be taken to ensure that it is suspended if the recipients abuse or misuse it;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recommends that the Commission allow Member States to freely implement or enhance universal welfare benefits targeting children as an intrinsic right of the child;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Suggests that a parental allowance be introduced in the Member States to support families when one of the parents has decided not to work in order to raise their children; insists that this measure be supervised at national level; insists that this parental allowance should not merely supplement welfare benefits but should constitute an income subject to suspensive conditions in the event of abuse or misuse;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls onUrges the Commission to refrain from recommending reformulations and cuts in the public services of Member States, from promoting flexible labour relations and the privatisation of public services, which have led unequivocally to the weakening of the social rights of childreacceleration of State’s social disengagement and a reduction in family support, and had a significant impact on the employment prospects of the most vulnerable members of the population;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Urges Member States to implement and monitor plans for alleviating chfamildy poverty, putting the focus on the intrinsic rights of children, and setting targets for reducing poverty and child social exclusion;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges the European Commission and the European Parliament to take the opportunity provided by the mid-term review of the multiannual financial framework to increase the appropriations from the European Social Fund and the Food Aid Program for the most deprived groups, respecting the community preference, and to check if childrenfamilies are a priority in the programming and implementation of regional and cohesion policiespolicies, ensuring that such aid is more consistent and better coordinated at local level;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recommends that, for informational purposes, Member States' national budgets contain unrestricted visible and transparent provisions for costs to combat child poverty and to fulfil their duty to protect children;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on Member States to introduce legislation to protect or increase maternity and paternity rights and reiterate the crucial importance of the traditional and legal framework of the family unit for children’s development;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recommends that Member States develop proactive social policies that prevent poverty and the departure of children from their family environment, ensuring that it is not through poverty that children are institutionalised, except in the event of abuse, neglect or obvious problems;
Amendment 237 #
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; suggests, in this context, that the above be supplemented by an urgent reform of the education system to restore discipline, merit, effort, respect for teachers and the core subjects for developing a good knowledge base;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Urges Member States to guarantee universal, public, free andpromote access to public, 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,nd access to family doctors, dentists and mental health specialists for all children, and integrate these aspects into national and the EU public health strategies;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Urges the Member States to redefine their public policies in the field of local healthcare access in view of the worrying decline in the quality of public healthcare systems and services;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recommends that Member States provideadopt the necessary support to ensure the rightpolicies to promote access to culture, sport and leisure for all children, with a focus on children in poverty, children in remote areas, children with disabilities, and migrants;
Amendment 281 #
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, increasmproving the number of employees and technicians inefficiency of social security services, and increaspromoting the medical, psychological and social care of children;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14