MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
One in three children in Spain lives in poverty, according to Save the Children
“Austerity policies are considerably worsening the situation” said the international charity One in three children in Spain lives at risk of poverty, the international charity Save the Children said in a report. The charity said austerity measures and cutbacks in public spending had worsened the situation and said the number of under-18s “at risk of poverty or marginalization”, an official EU measure of various aspects of economic hardship - soared to more than 2.8 million in 2012.
That was equivalent to 33.8% of Spain’s children, according to a report from Save the Children that used the latest official European Union data. The charity cited cases of families scraping by on low salaries, dwindling welfare payments and charity food hand outs.
The charity said there was no lack of good will and intention to tackle childhood poverty, but that more public spending was required.
The conservative government that took power in late 2011 imposed tough public spending cuts in its efforts to stabilize Spain’s public finances, under pressure from European authorities.
“Austerity policies are considerably worsening the situation,” Save the Children said in its report. They are “constraining still further the already limited capacity of the social welfare system to give an adequate response to the needs of children and families in economic difficulty”, it added.
“The state has an obligation to act as guarantor of the rights these girls and boys are entitled to, an obligation at an international level, defined in human rights treaties.”
Spain has started to recover slowly from it second recession in five years, but the unemployment rate remains high at more than 26%, with nearly six million Spaniards out of work.
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rules-
-
-
Read all commentsBrace yourself Gibraltar!
Jan 31st, 2014 - 07:23 am 0Deflection coming your way.
Since we are at it
Jan 31st, 2014 - 01:18 pm 0http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/28/four-in-five-in-us-face-near-poverty-no-work/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/28/four-in-five-in-us-face-near-poverty-no-work/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/28/four-in-five-in-us-face-near-poverty-no-work/
Since Mercopress can't be bothered with actual objectivism anylonger (1 in 3 children in Spain in poverty, then one reads ”1 in 3 at RISK of poverty...)
1 in 4 EUian and USAnian children in Poverty, 4 in 5 AMERICANS in near poverty, 50% of adult EUians in poverty.
And we were 1st world, once.
Toberine
Jan 31st, 2014 - 04:11 pm 0I have to agree with you on the misleading title. “At risk” of poverty is not poverty.
However, you also need to consider that definitions of poverty vary significantly. I see poverty here and in Argentina and I lived in the “poorest” inner-city areas in the EU. There is no comparison. They are different leagues of poverty. Given the choice of 1st world poverty vs 3rd world poverty I would choose 1st.
I say 3rd world, not because we are a 3rd world nation, but because the 15% who live here in poverty are remnants of the 3rd world. In Argentina it is the same (although the church estimate the level at closer to 30%).
You have that very 1st world habit of national deprication without seeing how lucky you really are.
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!