European Child Guarantee – what has it delivered so far?

Children’s rights regulators from across the EU have met in Brussels to mark the third anniversary of the European Child Guarantee and highlight the work being done in all their respective countries.

The European Child Guarantee was adopted on 14 June 2024 with the aim of providing a platform to ensure that every child in Europe at risk of poverty or social exclusion can access their most basic human rights, such as healthcare and education.

Child guarantee coordinators from 23 EU member states came together on 14 June to highlight the need for what they call ‘urgent implementation’ of actions at national and EU level.

Work on early childhood education and care, health, nutrition and housing were all held up as examples of what individual countries are doing to address their own particular issues around child poverty.

‘Sustain and increase investment in children’

In his keynote speech, Professor Olivier De Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, spoke on the importance of sustaining and increasing the investment in children, particularly in the context of what he called ‘fiscal consolidations’, the non- take-up of rights and the link between poverty and mental health.

Nicolas Schmit, the EU Commissioner whose brief covers social rights, said one in four children in the EU live in a low-income household, have parents who can only work well below their working time potential, or are exposed to severe material and social deprivation. Addressing these challenges early in children’s lives, he said, would improve their educational and employment prospects.

Progress reports and examples of ‘good practice’ were shared, including Germany’s ‘Startchancen-Programm’, which through providing a better educational start in life aims to separate academic achievement from social background, and ensure greater equality of opportunity for children from all backgrounds.