Activities of Rosa D'AMATO related to 2023/2066(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on reducing inequalities and promoting social inclusion in times of crisis for children and their families
Amendments (54)
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
– having regard to the Commission Communication of 7 September 2022 entitled European Care Strategy and the Council Recommendation 1478/22 on Early Childhood Education and Care: the Barcelona Targets for 2030 of 29 November 2022;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
– having regard to the UN Resolution on the rights of the child focusing on children without parental care (2019);
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 b (new)
Citation 16 b (new)
– having regard to the Commission Communication of 7 June 2023 entitled 'A Comprehensive approach to mental health';
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 19 a (new)
Citation 19 a (new)
– having regard to the Commission Communication of 11 May 2022 entitled "A digital decade for children and youth: the new European strategy for a better internet for kids";
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 19 b (new)
Citation 19 b (new)
– having regard to the UNICEF and Learning for Well-Being Foundation Report (2022) entitled 'What makes me? Core capacities for living and learning';
Amendment 62 #
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 and bear a higher probability of transmission of poverty over several generations; whereas this phenomenon requires a multidimensional response, which necessarily includes improving employment and job security, guaranteeing and enforcing rights, increasing income and ensuring universal access to quality public services;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the right to a safe, secure and clean environment for children, the right to a future free of environmental pollution and protection from the negative impact of climate change are not fully ensured by EU policies and tools;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas families are increasingly diverse and not all families are fully identified by official statistics nor addressed by national child support and family policies, with consequences on children and families' living standards and access to social rights;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
Bd. whereas growing up in a safe and caring environment that provides for love, identity, belonging, protection and stability is essential for the development and well-being of children and exposure to abuse and neglect can negatively affect a child'development;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B e (new)
Recital B e (new)
Be. whereas inequalities established at a very young age negatively influence children opportunities, well-being and health; whereas these inequalities may have life-long repercussions in their adulthood and can prevent them from realising their full potential;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas quality, inclusive and affordable childcare and pre-school education may play a significant role in compensating for the socio-economic status of children at risk of poverty, may have a positive impact on children's health and socio-emotional development, support parents and children with disabilities and foster the integration of parents, especially mothers, into the labour market;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas hidden and out-of-pocket costs associated with childcare and pre- school education are insufficiently considered and tend to significantly impact the families from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and less developed regions and territores;
Amendment 128 #
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 children; whereas the disparity in the EU among urban and rural areas and more developed and less developed regions concerning the access to quality health services facilities is widening; whereas access to preventive care and health promotion measures, as well as access to mental health and psychosocial support, are an essential part of healthcare, but many children are not able to benefit from these services;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas children, parents, foster families and carers should be protected from discrimination, such as discrimination on grounds of sex, language, sexual orientation, religion or belief, political or ideological beliefs, national, racial, ethnic or social origin, belonging to a national minority, socio-economic situation, disability, age or any other status, and children from vulnerable population groups are at greater risk of marginalisation, poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas mental health well-being for children is key, as it allows them to reach developmental milestones, learn ways to cope with problems, aquire social and emotional skills, establish secure and nurturing relaitonships with peers and adults;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas children have the right to be protected from marketing and advertising practices of commercial operators, including in digital spaces, especially in relation to products and content promoting unsustainable, unhealthy lifestyles and behaviours;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
Fc. whereas the increasing digitalisation of services has created new challenges and barriers for children in low income families, who are often lacking equipment, skills and access to internet connection;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F d (new)
Recital F d (new)
Fd. whereas extended exposure to online services from an early age raises serious concerns related to children's mental health, including sleep deprivation, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm, lack of attention problems, and ultimately brain development in the long run;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F e (new)
Recital F e (new)
Fe. whereas increased internet use can put children at greater risk of online harms such as sexual exploitation, cyber stalking and cyberbullying especially for LGBTIQ+ children; whereas internet use from an early age amplifies the dangers posed to children in relation to accessing and consuming harmful content, in particular but not limited to, explicit sexual content, hateful speech and disinformation;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F f (new)
Recital F f (new)
Ff. whereas the addictive design of current online services' lead children from an early age to extended exposure to online content without owning the basic necessary skills and know-how to consume information in a safe a trusted manner;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas most children with disabilities still face multiple forms of discrimination and lack of social inclusion due to inadequate access to childcare facilities, nutrition that fits their needs, opportunities to attend and participate in inclusive educational activities, lack of inclusion in standard schools, accessing healthcare and spaces that do not adequately respond to their mobility and emotional needs;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. whereas eradicating child poverty is an indispensable stepping stone in constructing a just, equale and social Europe for current and future generations;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Member States to increase public investment in universal policies that have a direct and indirect impact on children’s lives, by guaranteeing universal, accessible and inclusive high- quality public services (especially care, education, health, housing, cultural and leisure activitienergy, transport, food, water, sanitation, social services, cultural and leisure activities, easy and free access to green spaces), to promote the creation of quality work with rights based on robust collective bargaining and recruitment with decent and fair wages, to facilitate a work-life balance by, inter alia, reducing working hours and providing for maternity and paternity leave, and to bolster mechanisms at the national, regional and local levels for ensuring the meaningful participation of children and their families as well as civil society organisation in the development, implementation and, monitoring and evaluation of these policies;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Member States to enhance structural investments in order to support access to early childhood education facilities and services, curriculum reforms, upskilling and riskilling opportunities for teachers, access to essential services with increased public current expenditure with the use of EU and national funds in areas where it is most needed;
Amendment 224 #
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 and liberalisation 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;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls that access to a minimum income, wages above the poverty line and adjusted to current inflation levels, full social protection and extended safety nets are essential to enable children and their families in accessing essential services; Calls on the Commission and Member States to develop concrete policies and measures, including legislation, ensuring that everyone has access to public services which are considered essential;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the EU Member States to invest in social services workers and their professional development through ongoing training opportunities as well as adequate salaries and good working conditions;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls on the European Commission to promote the involvement of social partners in the education sector at European, national and regional level in the European Semester yearly cycle, by thoroughly consulting them about the design and implementation of National Reform Programmes, Country Reports and Country Specific Recommentations, so to better respond to the needs and challenges faced by early childhood education systems, in particular ralated to the increasing disparities in access to education services and the growing shortages of qualified personnel;
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Member States to submit and implement ambitious and comprehensive Child Guarantee National Action plans; urges the Member States that have not yest submitted their Child Guarantee National Plans to do so;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Notes with regret that only 19 Member States have established national child poverty reduction targets by 2030; calls on the Member states to adopt ambitious targetsfor child poverty reduction by taking into account the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Calls on the Commission and the Member states to ensure the monitoring and evaluation of the Child Guarantee at both EU and national levels by setting clear, multisectoral and comparable metrics, investing in efficient and effective data collection, and defining more specific targets. The monitoring and evaluation system must reflect the multidimentional nature of the Child Guarantee and include the different areas covered by the framework. Data should be disaggregated by target and age groups, and include children aged from birth to six.
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Calls on Member States to identify children at greater risk of poverty, and social exclusion affected by the cost of living crisis, including children in most precarious situations, LGBTIQ+ children, children with disabilities, children with ethnic and migrant background, children in alternative care, homeless children and children with mental health issues to esnure their access to key services, such as early childhood education and care, education, proper nutririon, health and housing;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4e. Welcomes the European Commission proposal for a Regulation on Recognition of parenthood between Member States; Calls on the Council for its swift adoption; recalls that the fragmentation of parenthood rights across the EU constitutes an economic, legal and emotional burden for children and their families and contradicts the principle od the 'best interest of the child';
Amendment 259 #
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; calls on the Member states to prioritise structural investments in easily accessible medical facilities, pre- and post-natal care for all parents and training health professional in the EU;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Member States to commit to ensuring family and community-based environments for children in the EU by implementing the reform of child care and protection systems, supporting the transition from institutional to family and community- based care, and strenghtening national social protection system;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Welcomes the strategy for the rights of persons with disability 2021-2030 as a concrete way to enable persons with disabilities to enjoy their rights and fully participate in society; stresses the need to ensure that disability is duly taken into account when designing, implementing and monitoring EU policies and initiatives, especially the barriers and challenges for children; Calls on the Commission to speed up its proposal for a framework for social services of excellence for persons with disabilities;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the EU budgetary authorities to take advantage of the upcoming mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 to strengthen and make better use of ESF+, ERDF, FEAD and Child Guarantee allocations in order to strengthen structural policies and social support for children and families; this revision should include the need to make process transparent and require the involvement of civil society and relevant stakeholders in the planning, implementation and evaluation when such funding is used;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to introduce a social convergence framework, in order to detect and correct social imbalances, thereby ensuring the effective implementation of the EPSR and its action plan; calls for the outcome of the social convergence framework exercise to be automatically reflected in country specific recommendations;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Recommends that social investments are subjcet to a favourable treatment in the context of the Economic Governance review while ensuring that social rights and access to public services are placed at the centre of EU's forthcoming priorities and funding initiatives;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Calls on the Commission to build on the Communication of 11 May 2022 entitled 'A digital decade for children and youth: the new European strategy for a better internet for kids' by proposing an overarching policy aimed at protecting children's mental health from overexposure to and overconsumption of online content;
Amendment 288 #
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 and extra- curricular activities at all ages;
Amendment 297 #
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, especially in less developed regions and in remote and rural areas, thereby creating or bolstering a public, universal and free response from the very beginning of the education process;
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on Member States to properly design, fund and implement national strategies to ensure that children and their families have access to healthy and affordable food, especially in the most deprived areas; recalls that limited access to fresh, affordable and healthy food fuels health problems in particular for lower income households and vulnerable people living in poorly connected and serviced areas;
Amendment 305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls on the European Commission to prevent economic interests from prevailing over children's nutrition and health inside and outside the European Union; financial incentives should be used to reward actors and initiatives that increase the availability of healthy and affordable foods while discouraging the concumption of high- sugar and fattening foods and beverages for children and adolescents;
Amendment 309 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights the experience of some Member States, which ensure that textbooks and teaching materials, as well as school transport and meals, are provided free of charge; recommends extending this system to all Member States as a means of ensuring equal access to education and as an important means of financial support for the most vulnerable of families; recommends that Member states provide free school meals for the children most in need, without stigmatisation and direct or indirect discrimination; children most in need should also receive the equivalent of a free meal on the days that they are not in school;
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Member States to guarantee universal, public, free and quality healthcare that covers all essential health and care services, including primary prevention, community, mental, hospital and special care, dental and the cost of medicines 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 330 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Highlights the importance of a reinforced EU Startegy for Sport that encourages participation of children and young people in sport and physical education, enjoyment of the outdoors regardless of their age, social background and fitness level; stresses the central role of sport in improving children's health resilience and chronic diseases prevention; reiterates that team sport is a driver of social inclusion, as referred to in the Erasmus+ regulation;
Amendment 334 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Recommends Member States to strenghten national strategies to enable children in poverty and at risk of social exclusion to take part in sporting activities;
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights the right to comfortable, affordable, inclusive, energy-efficient and quality housing that meets the needs of children and their families and ensures their well- being, privacy and quality of life; calls on the Member States to raise housing allowances to reflect real costs and to promote a public housing policy that tackles property speculation and guarantees this right, housing discrimiination, bans evictions and guarantees this right; calls on the European Commission to develop an ambitious plan to meet the housing need of all EU citizens, supporting the development of social housing, while making housing subsidies more accessible, and to eradicate homelessness by 2030;
Amendment 341 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Highlights that environmental pollution and climate change have a disproportionate impact on lower income groups in terms of exposure to harmful substances with subsequent higher incidence of health related problems, lower life expectancy and fewer life opportunities for children; Calls on the Member states to esnure that the right to a safe, secure and clean environment for children is respected, especially in disadvantaged and highly industrialised aread; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the respect of EU Environmental acquis with the help of competent national and regional authories and civil society organisations;
Amendment 348 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Member States to foster programmes to monitor the prices of energy, transport, internet connectivity and other essential goods in order to reduce the impact of the rise in the cost of living on children and their families;
Amendment 356 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Condemns all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect, including online, 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, including online child sex abuse, exploitation and neglect; calls on the Commission and Member states to develop efficient responses to prevent negative consequences for the cognitive, social and emotional development of children in the digital sphere;
Amendment 372 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses the need to invest in support and follow-up for children and young refugees and asylum seekers, their families and host institutions; stresses the need to ensure that all policies and decisions on these children are aligned with the EU Strategy on the rights of the child and CRC;