Ethnic segregation is a widespread and systematic practice in many European countries. These practices are illegal yet continue to shape the lives of children and families across Europe. Our rights to education, housing, and health, ostensibly enjoyed by us all, remain divided along ethnic lines. For many Roma, their enjoyment of these rights is severely limited, often with the tacit support of the state.  

Antigypsyism remains a shamefully powerful and prevalent phenomenon. It is a disease whose symptoms permeate every level of society. Its myriad of manifestations include police brutality, terror attacks to the denial of access to clean water and electricity. 

Various action plans, strategies and campaigns have failed to address this reality. After decades of perhaps well-intentioned, but nonetheless hollow attempts from governmental institutions to meet their obligations, progress has simply not come fast enough. 

One of the clearest manifestations of antigypsyism lies in the blatant segregation of Roma children in education. Roma children are consistently denied one of their most basic rights, with huge consequences for them and their families.  

The segregation of children in schools based on ethnic origin is illegal. This has been declared in several rulings by the European Court of Human Rights. Yet, it remains widely practised. At national level, governments and local authorities have failed in their obligations to adhere to these rulings in any concrete sense.  

Educational segregation not only includes schools where most or all of the children are of the same ethnic background, but also segregated classes within schools. In some cases, Roma children are segregated within classrooms, reserved to the back of the class. Roma children are also frequently placed in classes for children with learning disabilities. For Roma children with disabilities, this can constitute double discrimination as these classes are actually set up to avoid prohibitions on segregation and fail to address the needs and realities of Roma children with disabilities.  

Roma children in segregated schooling receive an inferior education, precluding them from their right to study and to fulfil their potential. In one particular school, Roma children who were lucky enough to get vocational courses were used as free labour by a local manufacturing company. Roma girls in the same school were offered a nationwide programme that taught them to become “good housewives”. Deeply prejudiced stereotypes are frequently transformed into excuses for Roma children receiving an inferior education. 

Not only do studies show that segregated education leads to worse outcomes but the ECtHR’s jurisprudence asserts that it is contrary to human rights. 

Authorities use various justifications for these practices but segregation can never be justified. A common excuse from local authorities and schools is fear of ‘white flight’. This describes the fear that parents from the non-Roma white majority will remove their children from the schools, rather than be educated alongside Roma children. This cannot be an excuse. The prejudice and fear of one group cannot justify the oppression of another. It is unacceptable that antigypsyist attitudes are met with responses that further entrench the effects of antigypsyism.  

The issue of segregation in education is both a symptom and catalyst of antigypsyism which exacerbates other areas of discrimination and exclusion. Educational segregation synergises with residential segregation, and the societal exclusion of Roma often begins long before school. Repeated and targeted evictions by authorities are not only extremely harmful in themselves, but can also lead to difficulties with school enrolment. In many places, Roma are segregated to colonies. When it comes to school enrolment, Roma are often rejected due to their association with these areas.  

A similar pattern can be found in early years education and care. According to the REYN Early Childhood Research Study, almost 6 out of every 10 Roma child under 3 does not have access to Early Childhood Education and Care nearby. This loses a crucial opportunity for socialisation and early education, which not only impacts their learning but can pave the way for a life of exclusion. 

Both the EU and the Council of Europe have released their plans for Roma inclusion in recent years. The new EU Framework for Roma Integration 2020-2030, replacing the 2011-2020 strategy, claims that its predecessor made marked improvements in education. Despite this, cases of segregated schooling actually increased, as did the share of Roma youth without employment, education or training. 

The framework for 2020-2030, now in its 4th year, set a target of reducing the number of Roma children in segregated schools by half. Considering that the top European human rights court has declared the practice to be illegal, this seems unambitious.  

Of course, antigypsyism is so ingrained within European societies that it would be naïve to portray its elimination as easy. 

The accession of many EU member states with large Roma populations led to a wave of focus on issues faced by Roma. Unfortunately, this focus has been marred by poor implementation and a lack of Roma participation. As the EU prepares for a new wave of accession states, also with significant Roma populations, it is essential that past mistakes are not repeated.  

The fact is, whilst previous efforts such as the Decade of Roma Inclusion can be credited with their agenda–setting effect, most Roma were not even aware of such a decade.  

Eradicating segregation within Europe needs radical change. It requires looking deeply within European society, its historical construction, its prejudice, and its continual hostility towards its largest ethnic minority. Roma are at the forefront of their own liberation, and it is time for European institutions to recognise that efforts to combat exclusion cannot exclude the very people they seek to include.  

Eliminating segregation, whether educational or residential, requires focused and targeted measures. This necessitates funding, implementation and urgency. Above all, it requires uprooting and destroying antigypsyism wherever it lies. It demands deep structural changes that so far have been absent.   

About the author: Patrick Gergő Jefferson is a former Policy and Communications Assistant at COFACE Families Europe. As a visiting researcher at the University of Coimbra, he researched discrimination against Ukrainian-Roma asylum seekers after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He presented this research in a conference by Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He mostly works within the fields of climate justice and migration, and completed a thesis entitled: Nature, Capital and Climate Justice: Interconnected Crises, Rights-Based Approaches and the imperative for radical change. 

**DISCLAIMER: All opinions in this article reflect the views of the author, not of COFACE Families Europe**

Photo: BIRN-Miroslava-German-Sirotnikova

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We are pleased to welcome and introduce COFACE’s newest members joining us from North Macedonia, Georgia, and Malta to contribute to positive outcomes for families in a changing society. 

Youth of Diverse Families (North Macedonia) 

“Youth of Diverse Families,” is a voluntary, non-profit association dedicated to enhancing the capacities and inclusion of young people from socially marginalised groups in public life and youth policies. Youth of Diverse Families advocates for our rights of children and teenagers. You can find out more about their work here. 

Child, Family, Society (Georgia) 

“Child, Family, Society” is an organization dedicated to fostering the personal development of people with disabilities, children, and their family members. Our mission encompasses education, vocational training, employment, creativity, and other social aspects. Additionally, we advocate for their rights to promote independent living and full inclusion for individuals with disabilities, children, and their families. 

Prior to 1995, little was known in Georgia about the problems and needs of people with disabilities and, and, most importantly, the key role of their integration into society. 

In October 1997, the union was officially registered and the first non-governmental organisation “Child, Family, Society” was established in Georgia.

For 21 years, the organization has not changed its field of activity and target group. It continues to work on social integration of children and adolescents with disabilities. 

Find out more about the work of Child, Family, Society here. 

National Parents’ Society for Persons with Disability (Malta): 

The National Parents Society of Persons with Disability (NPSPD) was founded in 1976 and has been a registered Voluntary Organisation (VO) since 2009. It is a leader in bringing forward disability issues to the public domain and engages in discussion with all parties who have at heart the interests of persons with disability. 

Throughout the many years from its inception, NPSPD has always been at the forefront lobbying to safeguard the rights of: 

• Parents of persons with disability, especially parents whose children cannot represent themselves. 
• Persons with disabilities themselves, regardless of the impairment families of them. 
• Our interest is to work in collaboration with anyone who is truly committed to working in the best interest of the person with a disability and their families.  

Find out more about the work of the National Parents’ Society for Persons with Disability here. 

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On the 4th of June, COFACE-Families Europe held a financial inclusion meeting to discuss key priorities in financial inclusion at the European level, learn about political developments and the “Reset Finance” campaign from Finance Watch, and share good practices through the work of COFACE’s Spanish member Isadora Duncan. The event gathered members and attendees from across Europe to address the pressing issues faced by families in Europe related to economics and finance. 

COFACE Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager, Martin Schmalzried updated the members on pressing challenges at EU level, starting with ensuring access to basic banking services across Europe. Despite progress, many families still face barriers such as high fees, limited awareness among both staff and consumers, and stringent access criteria. He proposed several solutions, including fee caps, mandatory offers of basic accounts by banks, and creating limited functionality accounts when full documentation is not available. The future plans discussed included a focus on personal insolvency, the digital euro, the right to cash, the enforcement of the MiCA framework, and advocating for strong consumer representation in open finance. 

The “Reset Finance” Campaign 

Paul Fox outlined the “Reset Finance” campaign from Finance Watch which is aimed at redefining financial regulations to safeguard against failing institutions and future crises, particularly in the context of the upcoming EU elections. The campaign’s objectives are to increase visibility, create networking opportunities, and set agendas. Key priorities include ending extractive financial practices, ensuring full and equal participation in financial services, and advocating for a harmonised EU personal insolvency scheme to tackle household over-indebtedness. 

Isadora Duncan’s Contributions to Financial Inclusion 

Sonsoles Reviriego shared insights from the Isadora Duncan Foundation, which focuses on supporting single-parent families and women in vulnerable situations. The foundation’s programs offer social guidance, legal advice, and financial education, aiming to empower economically disadvantaged groups. Notably, their initiatives include addressing gender violence, providing economic support, and facilitating access to financial services through educational programs and personalized support. 

Next Steps 

The meeting concluded with a commitment to follow ongoing developments at the EU level in the field of financial inclusion, as well as continue closely cooperating with allied organizations like Finance Watch and Financial Inclusion Europe. Attendees were encouraged to engage with the proposed campaigns and contribute to the advocacy efforts aimed at shaping EU policies for better financial inclusion of all families. 

For more information contact COFACE Senior Policy and Advocacy Manager, Martin Schmalzried: mschmalzried@coface-eu.org

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The European Commission has released a new toolkit to help policymakers make the best use of EU funding to invest in social housing and accompanying services.  

This initiative addresses the urgent need for affordable and decent housing, which is crucial for social inclusion and enables greater participation in education and the labour market. 

Housing affordability has become an important challenge across the EU, as shown by the sharp increase in house purchase and rent prices over the past decade: 

• House purchase prices increased by 47.9% and rents by 22.8% between 2010 and 2023. 
• Nearly 10% of EU citizens spent over 40% of their income on housing in 2022. 

The toolkit features 20 case studies that illustrate how EU funds, such as The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), can be used to improve access to adequate housing.  

Addressing the needs of vulnerable populations, the toolkit outlines strategies for providing suitable housing solutions to homeless people, persons with disabilities, Roma communities, migrants, refugees, and LGBTIQ people. 

Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicholas Schmit, highlighted the importance of this initiative: “The right to decent and affordable housing is at the heart of a strong social Europe and social cohesion. As housing is a complex issue that must be looked at from both a social and economic perspective, it can benefit from additional guidance or information. This is why we have created the Social Housing toolkit to help Member States put in place efficient housing policies backed by adequate financing.” 

Find out more here. 

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Since 2017, the City of Paris has implemented a digital inclusion strategy with numerous partners, aiming to use digital technology as a lever for social integration. Continuing these efforts, in March 2024, the City of Paris and its partners are offering a week of events across the city dedicated to parents and children of all ages to enjoy digital Life as a family.

COFACE member Unaf participated in the launch of the “My Child and Screens” week at the Paris-Villette theater. This week-long event, dedicated to digital parenting, was organised by the City of Paris in partnership with WeTechCare and numerous institutional and associative partners.

Unaf brought its 20 years of field experience and expertise to this event. The week is part of the “P@rents, Let’s Talk Digital” initiative, led by Unaf in collaboration with the Directorate General for Social Cohesion (DGCS), the National Family Allowance Fund (Cnaf), and supported by the Ministries of Family, Childhood, and Digital Affairs.

Unaf also hosted a stand in collaboration with Udaf de Paris and Caf de Paris, engaging with parents, children, and professionals. It was a great opportunity to showcase their numerous resources such as:

• The webpage: My Child and Screens 
•  The collective and resources dedicated to family video gaming at Pédagojeux

See the full programme in French here.

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COFACE Families Europe together with its members is very active in addressing the social challenges faced by families of today and advocating for policies to support their well-being.

In 2019, COFACE Families Europe mobilised voters locally through its member organisations (representing families of all types, without discrimination). A call was launched to the COFACE network to vote and speak out in May 2019 using 10 key values as a compass: non-discrimination, equal opportunities, empowerment, internet for all, social inclusion, sustainability, respect of human rights, solidarity, child well-being, accessibility. Following the election of the new European Parliament and the publication of the European Commission’s political guidelines, COFACE Families Europe published its New Deal for Families of Today which is a list of key short-term demands (also available in Easy-to-Read language) to be achieved by the new European Commission from 2020-2024, which are to be seen as concrete steps to meet the long-term goals of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

These demands reflect the needs and challenges of families of today and call for a mix of European actions (policy, law, funding, benchmarking, innovation) to drive real change. These recommendations are addressed at EU-level policymakers in the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU, from whom we expect joint leadership to ensure tangible results for Europe’s citizens.  It is on this basis that we have assessed  the European Union’s work from 2019 to 2024, and how it contributes to achieving eight positive outcomes for families of today (see more here). While this assessment refers to various initiatives to support families, it cannot fully assess the real impact on families at local level yet. It is crucial for the EU institutions to conduct monitoring and evaluation of their policies to understand the impacts (positive and negative) on families, in order to review and consolidate existing frameworks under the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and adopt any new measures needed to strengthen the Pillars.

Read the full assessment here.

See the 10 key actions we want integrated into the EU’s 2024-2029 programme here.

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Joint statement of the EEG-DI. Brussels, 2 May 2024

Call for stronger prevention of child institutionalisation:

Time to step up monitoring and evaluation of early childhood intervention and family support in the European Child Guarantee

The European Expert Group on the transition from institutional to community-based care (EEG) welcomes the initiative of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to host the knowledge-sharing Conference “European Child Guarantee: from engagement to reality” on 2 and 3 May 2024. The EEG welcomes that many National Action Plans (NAPs) include measures in the area of deinstitutionalisation (DI) for children but calls for increased emphasis on prevention and early intervention, including Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) and support to parents and carers, to be monitored at national and EU level and addressed in the updated versions of NAPs.

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Enacted in June 2021, the European Child Guarantee represents a crucial step towards combating social exclusion by facilitating access to essential services and has catalysed momentum for the deinstitutionalisation of children. It identified children with disabilities and children living in alternative care among its target groups and invited Member States to enhance social protection, prevent children from being placed in institutional care, and ensure their transition to quality community-based and family-based care. Importantly, it also encouraged them to facilitate the early identification of developmental issues and health needs, and to provide habilitation and rehabilitation services for children with disabilities.

Overall, the Child Guarantee tackles many drivers of child institutionalisation, including poverty and lack of access to services, especially for children with disabilities. This is in line with the commitment of the EU to ensure the transition from institutional to family and community based care in its most important policies^[1] and funding regulations.^[2] These also include the 2024 Commission Recommendation on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child,^[3] encouraging investment in non-residential services, including accessible housing for children with disabilities, and calling for the promotion of national deinstitutionalisation strategies for deinstitutionalisation, ensuring adequate support for foster families and comprehensive support programmes for young people with care experience.

Importantly, as a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the European Union is required to ensure full enjoyment of all rights by children with disabilities “on an equal basis with other children.” This includes deinstitutionalisation, including the requirement not to invest any public or private funding into institutions for children.

This role of the Child Guarantee in implementing deinstitutionalisation has also been reiterated in The European Parliament’s Resolution Children first – strengthening the Child Guarantee, two years on from its adoption (2023/2811(RPS)) stressing the need for ‘’Time-bound targets for bringing children out of institutions and into family and community settings’’. Further, it adheres to the European Parliament’s Report ‘’Reducing inequalities and promoting social inclusion in times of crisis for children and their families’ (2023/2066(INI)), highlighting that “child protection measures, including deinstitutionalisation, are also essential for children to achieve their rights and reach their full potential’’, and recommending that ‘’Member States develop proactive social policies to tackle the root causes of child institutionalisation, ensuring that it is not because of poverty and exclusion that children are institutionalised’’.

Nevertheless, almost three years after its adoption, across Europe hundreds of thousands of children still live in institutions, isolated from their families, their peers and local communities. An institution is any residential care facility where residents are isolated from the broader community, do not have enough control over their lives or decisions affecting them, and which is characterised by features such as depersonalisation, lack of individualised support, or limited contact with birth families or caregivers. “Family-like” institutions, including large or small group homes, also fall within the definition of an institution and should not be considered as a substitute for a child’s right to grow up with a family.^[4]

Growing up in an institution can severely damage children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development as well as autonomy. Children do not learn basic life skills or how to manage their own lives while they are kept in institutions, and are thus unprepared for life in the outside world.^[5] Child institutionalisation has devastating consequences not only on the affected children and their families, but on society as a whole, by exacerbating stigma and social isolation, and feeding the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.

Deinstitutionalisation requires a structural transformation of the social-care and child-protection systems. This includes preventative measures addressing children and families, to avoid children being placed in institutions in the first place, through access to mainstream services, healthcare, education, and welfare systems, as well as parents’ financial support, and programmes to foster kinship and foster care.^[6] It further requires that children, including children with disabilities, are involved in decisions made about them and that their opinions are given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity.^[7]

The EEG welcomes that several countries included measures to support children in alternative care and/or advance reforms linked to deinstitutionalisation in their National Action Plans (NAPs).^[8] However, we noticed that in some cases, these measures are limited and not part of a comprehensive framework, are not accompanied by the right type of support for local authorities to put them in place, and their implementation can be rather slow.^[9]

Prevention and early intervention should lead the development of alternative care programmes for all children, which should always be implemented with the best interest of the child as their guiding principle. For children with disabilities, overrepresented in institutions, family-centred Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) services are key in preventing institutionalisation as they empower children and families, and foster inclusion in education. ECI services provide individualised and intensive support to families with infants and young children with or at risk of experiencing developmental delays, or disabilities and support primary caregivers to improve their interactions with the child and build their capacities.^[10]

The EEG regrets that actions towards the strengthening of Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) systems and support to family and carers are present only in a minority of countries, and mainly focusing on the early identification of developmental delays and disabilities, rather than in the provision of support to families and children.^[11] It is clear that policies tackling the barriers for children with disabilities can only be efficient if accompanied by social protection and financial support to their families and carers, however, such measures are rarely found in the NAPs.^[12]

Gathering evidence and monitoring progress are crucial components of child rights policies. We thus embrace the adoption of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Framework in December 2023, that will guide the biennial reporting by Member States. It is a great achievement that one of the six main indicators focuses on the number of children in alternative care, broken down by care type; and share of children in residential care. This is a key milestone to monitor the progress on deinstitutionalisation and to provide comparative data for the EU, which should be complemented by national indicators and data collection efforts to improve the understanding of the demographics and needs of children in alternative care.

The EEG calls on Member States to:

1. Place measures towards deinstitutionalisation at the heart of their NAPs  starting from prevention,  through the development of community-based and family-based services, including systems of family-centred Early Childhood Intervention, financial support to families, and of foster care programmes.
2. Put the necessary measures in place to ensure that social welfare, social protection, and social services prioritise the strengthening of families and communities, taking proactive measures to prevent unnecessary separation of children from their families.
3. Advocate for the social and human rights model of disability, focusing on dismantling barriers faced by children or caregivers with disabilities when accessing services, and ensuring that children with disabilities receive adequate support within their family environments and to ensure they can access their right to inclusive education.
4. Support safe family reunification and transition to independent living based on individual needs and circumstances. Provide ongoing support for families and care leavers to facilitate their full inclusion into the community, as well as for young people with personal experience of care. This includes access to personal assistance for children and young people with disabilities in need of such support.
5. Ensure meaningful participation of children, caregivers, parents, persons with disabilities, and civil society organisations, including organisations of persons with disabilities, in the implementation, revision and monitoring of the NAPs.
6. Address and combat stigma and discrimination within the system, including challenging ableism, gender norms and discriminatory social attitudes towards marginalised communities that could lead to child institutionalisation.
7. Implement a systematic approach to disaggregating data across all sectors, including housing, parental or child disabilities, living arrangements, and social protection programmes. This approach should enable regular assessments of progress in transitioning to community-based support services.
8. Align national monitoring and evaluation frameworks, including the indicators, with the EU Monitoring and Evaluation framework on children in alternative care. Improve data collection of children and families at risk, on the one hand, and of the available services, on the other hand.

The EU holds significant sway over national policy development, which can be achieved by:

1. Fostering exchange between Member States on effective measures in the area of deinstitutionalisation for children and developing a study on EU-level effective deinstitutionalisation and ECI policies and practices.
2. Formulating EU Guidelines on DI for children including prevention, and guidance on how to establish and improve national Early Childhood Intervention services and systems.
3. Increasing the use of EU financial tools for DI for children and measures to tackle the drivers of child institutionalisation, through prevention and early intervention programmes with the child’s best interest at heart, including ECI system development and better coordination with general measures targeting families such as access to income, quality ECEC services and work-life balance, and piloting personal assistance for children and young people with disabilities.
4. Ensuring effective implementation of the UN CRPD at EU level, including through improved intersectional and intersectoral coordination at the European, regional, national and local levels, and with full participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations.
5. Implementing the measures linked to deinstitutionalisation included in the  2024 Commission Recommendation on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child.

We hope that this Presidency event will be used as an opportunity for Member States to plan coordinated efforts towards the inclusion of all children and ensure that children receive care in a family and community-based environment.

For further information: https://deinstitutionalisation.com/

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^[1] The recent guarantees towards child protection enshrined in EU policy frameworks and initiatives include the Strategy on the Rights of the Child (2021), The Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2021-2030), the European Child Guarantee (2021) and the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2020-2024).

^[2] These EU Funding instruments include the Common Provisions Regulation (2021), the European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund (ERDF/CF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) Regulation (2021) The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (2021-2017) and the third Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (2021-2027).

^[3] Commission Recommendation of 23.4.2024 on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child

^[4] General comment No. 5 (2017) on living independently and being included in the community, CRPD/C/GC/5, paragraph 16(c)

^[5] Opening Doors for Europe’s Children, (2017). Deinstitutionalisation of Europe’s Children, Question and answers https://www.eurochild.org/uploads/2021/02/Opening-Doors-QA.pdf

^[6] European Expert Group on the transition from institutional to community-based care (2022), EU Guidance on Independent living and inclusion in the community https://deinstitutionalisation.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/eu-guidance-on-independent-living-and-inclusion-in-the-community-2-1.pdf

^[7] UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 7 (Children with disabilities)

^[8] These measures were included  for 16 NAPs – BE, BG, HR, CY, CZ, FI, FR, EL, IT, LX, MT, PL, PT, RO, ES, and SE in March 2023. Children in alternative care in the Child Guarantee National Action Plans. A summative analysis, (2023) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Eurochild https://eurochild.org/uploads/2023/05/Children-in-alternative-care-in-the-Child-Guarantee-NAPs_DataCare-analysis.pdf

^[9] Children in alternative care in the Child Guarantee National Action Plans. A summative analysis, (2023) United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Eurochild https://eurochild.org/uploads/2023/05/Children-in-alternative-care-in-the-Child-Guarantee-NAPs_DataCare-analysis.pdf

^[10] EASPD (2022). Family-centred Early Childhood Intervention:The best start in life. Position paper. https://easpd.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Family-Centred_ECI_PP_EASPD_The_best_start_in_life.pdf

^[11] EASPD (2023). What place for young children with disabilities in the Child Guarantee National Action Plans? https://easpd.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/EU_Child_Guarantee_National_Action_Plans.pdf

^[12] COFACE. (June 2023). Child Guarantee Assessment. https://coface-eu.org/wpcontent/uploads/2023/06/COFACE_CGAssessment_June2023.pdf

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On 15th May from 17.30-19.30 in the Schuman area of Brussels, COFACE Families Europe invited friends to assess the results of the last 5-year mandate of the von der Leyen Commission and highlight some key messages ahead of the European elections.

This was also be the occasion to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the International Year of Families.

COFACE Families launched its “State Of The European Union for families” assessment of the last 5-year mandate of the von der Leyen Commission and how it contributed to achieving eight specific outcomes for families. We also presented our #ActNow for Families of Today call to action, which comprises 10 specific actions that COFACE believe should be integrated into the EU’s 2024-2029 programme. Also available in Easy-to-read version here.

Last but not least, a COFACE song has been developed with the aim to push our message in a creative and engaging way.

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Background

In 2019, COFACE Families Europe mobilised voters locally through its member organisations (representing families of all types, without discrimination). A call was launched to the COFACE network to vote and speak out in May 2019 using 10 key values as a compass: non-discrimination, equal opportunities, empowerment, internet for all, social inclusion, sustainability, respect of human rights, solidarity, child well-being, accessibility.

Following the 2019 election of the new European Parliament and the publication of the European Commission’s political guidelines, COFACE Families Europe published its New Deal for Families of Today which is a list of key short-term demands (also available in Easy-to-Read language) to be achieved by the new European Commission from 2020-2024. They are to be seen as concrete steps to meet the long-term goals of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

These demands reflect the needs and challenges of families of today and call for a mix of European actions (policy, law, funding, benchmarking, innovation) to drive real change. These recommendations are addressed at EU-level policymakers in the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU, from whom we expect joint leadership to ensure tangible results for Europe’s citizens.

It is on this basis that we have assessed the work of the European Union’s work from 2019 to 2024, and how it contributes to achieving positive outcomes for families of today.

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This study by the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (the European Centre) was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the Committee on Petitions (PETI). 

There are currently 100 million persons with disabilities in the European Union, representing 15% of the total population. Data shows that persons with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty or social exclusion than persons without disabilities (in 2021, 29.7% vs 18.8%). This study brings together available knowledge that recent crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing energy crisis due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, together with rising inflation affect persons with disabilities and their families disproportionately. 

Findings from literature show that persons with disabilities experience many different extra costs due to disability which can place a significant financial burden on them and their families, leading to increased risk of living in poverty. These extra costs can be direct (e.g., assistive devices, home adaptations), indirect and opportunity costs and relate to general items, such as food or healthcare, or to disability-specific goods and services. The type and level of extra costs depend on the individual’s specific circumstances as well as the environmental and policy context including the extent of public support provided (both monetary and in-kind). The extra costs arising from disability have clear implications for the economic well-being, quality of life and social participation of persons with disabilities. Findings further reveal that persons with disabilities have higher energy needs than other households, and that they use a higher share of energy on basic consumption such as food, gas, electricity, which are the main items driving the current inflation. Consequently, persons with disabilities are often forced to reduce expenses on necessary goods and services resulting in unmet needs, they are more likely to have lower income and are also less protected. A strong association between employment status and lower additional costs of having a disability has been observed, thus EU policies and funds that foster the labour market inclusion of persons with disabilities play an important role. 

Over the past years, the EU has adopted legislative and non-legislative instruments to support the social inclusion of persons with disabilities, and several recent initiatives (e.g., the European Green Deal or the Fitfor55 package) are also relevant for persons with disabilities and their families, as they address the issue of energy poverty. In initiatives that respond to the challenges posed by the recent crises, persons with disabilities are considered under the larger category of vulnerable groups/households (see e.g., in the case of energy poverty) and thus remain invisible in policy efforts. As a result of that, a risk is that their specific needs are not taken into consideration by policymakers. 

In general, both at EU- and national-level more effort is required to identify and monitor the situation of population groups such as persons with disabilities that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of cost-of-living and energy crises. 

You can read the report here. 

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