Europe’s children seen but not heard

Date: 04/07/1996

THERE are approximately 75 million children in the EU - around one in five of the total population - but there is little discussion at European level of their needs and interests.

Whilst the importance of the Union 'getting closer to citizens' is increasingly stressed, children are completely ignored in this process. Ironically, there seems to be greater focus at present on the welfare of animals than on that of children.

There are important reasons for arguing that it is now time to discuss the position of children.

Firstly, it would encourage member states to meet their internationally agreed obligations. The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by all 15 EU members states, lays down that the 'best interests' of the child should be a primary consideration in all legislation and policy concerning children.

But as the UN committee charged with monitoring the implementation of the convention makes clear, this duty is far from being met in most member states.

Even in affluent Union countries, many children continue to suffer discrimination and lack access to basic social, economic, health and education rights. In the most serious cases, they are routinely subject to violence and abuse.

Secondly, the future of the Union is dependent on its children and young people achieving their full potential. According to the European Commission, between now and 2025 the number of young people aged under 20 in the EU is set to fall by 11&percent;, compared to a predicted expansion of 50&percent; in the elderly population.

At a time when there is increasing pressure on national governments to limit welfare expenditure, there are already fears that this demographic imbalance will significantly erode support for children's services and lead to poorer quality in standards of care.

Thirdly, although it can justifiably be argued that child welfare matters should remain the primary concern of member states, there are specific 'European' issues arising from the single market's emphasis on the free movement of goods, services and people which may have a significantly negative impact on children.

The Union has taken some action to counteract these dangers, agreeing a range of directives on issues such as toy safety and television advertising. However, many argue that these measures do not go far enough and that other important issues have been ignored.

These include the likelihood that the cross-border traffic in pornography and drugs will grow and that differences between social security systems will encourage disadvantaged young people to drift between countries.

To make progress, individual governments and the institutions of the EU require sound information which enables them to compare national experiences.

Yet in this field, no serious attempt has been made to assess legislation, policy and practice across the Union, despite the fact that the European Parliament's committee on youth called for an in-depth study of the problems of children in the Community five years ago.

This omission is about to be rectified by the publication next week (10 July) of a comprehensive study by the British non-governmental organisation NCH Action For Children, with the financial support of DGV (social affairs) of the European Commission and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK).

Children in Europe compares and analyses available statistics and research on children across a wide range of issues, and draws up relevant agendas for the development of policy and services at EU and national government level. As Social Affairs Commissioner Pádraig Flynn suggests in his foreword, it will provide a much-needed focus for constructive debate about the future of children in the Union.

The study reveals that, overall, there are many similarities in the direction of demographic trends within different member states. For example, across the EU over the last 20 to 30 years, the number of children living in single parent families, cohabiting households and step-families has grown in each country.

The pattern is not, however, uniform. In Sweden and Denmark, around one in every two births and, in France and the UK, one in every three, took place outside wedlock in 1993, compared with one in 14 in Italy and one in 36 in Greece.

The damaging impact on children of some aspects of economic and social change is also widely acknowledged.

According to a 1994 Eurobarometer survey, more than three-quarters of Europeans know that in their country there are people who cannot bring up their children because of their extreme poverty. And across the EU, youth unemployment rates in 1995 are much the same as they were in 1983 at one in five of the economically active population.

In general, however, the circumstances of children in the more affluent states are, not surprisingly, better than those in the poorer states.

For instance, in 1994 the lowest rates of infant mortality were found in Sweden and Finland, and the highest in Portugal and Greece (despite the great improvements in southern Europe over recent decades). There are, nevertheless, exceptions. The highest rate of teenage pregnancy is found in the UK, where 3&percent; of all 15-19 year olds gave birth in 1992 - more than five times as many as in the more liberal Netherlands.

Variations can also exist within member states. In the poorer south of Italy, truancy rates are much worse and there is a far higher level of illiteracy than in the north, with many thousands of young children working illegally in very poor conditions in markets and sweatshops. Similarly, in the north of Portugal, despite increasing government efforts to tackle the problem, child labour continues on a widespread scale in the clothing, footwear, housing, furniture and textile industries.

Whilst it is possible to derive some broad conclusions from the available evidence, there are, however, considerable gaps. For example, it is currently impossible to provide accurate information for the EU as a whole on how many children are excluded from school, suffer from mental health problems, are infected with the HIV virus or are disabled.

Little comparative research has been conducted on different legal and policy frameworks and their effects. Neither is there much transnational research comparing outcomes of particular types of service. And children's perceptions of their circumstances have as yet been almost completely ignored, even at national level.

It will no doubt be argued that it is too difficult and too expensive to collect these kinds of information. There are indeed a number of methodological problems. Definitions vary between countries, even of basic terms such as 'household' and 'family'.

Numbers are particularly hard to obtain in policy areas such as homelessness, where children move frequently and/or do not have much contact with official agencies. The existence of different patterns of services can make collection of comparative statistics difficult, as is the case with residential and foster care. Each member state also has different research traditions, levels of resources and government priorities.

Of course, to agree common definitions and indicators will involve a considerable amount of work. However, many of these have been established in relation to other key economic and social data affecting adults in the EU. These goals are also achievable for statistics and information concerning children, and would ultimately have significant benefits.

The 'model families' approach being developed by the European Observatory on National Family Policies, which compares the tax and child benefit packages of different countries, provides one positive example and could be replicated in other policy fields.

As a first step, attention should obviously focus on priority areas where the Union already has a legitimate interest. In addition to monitoring the impact of EU directives such as those recently agreed on parental leave and young workers, urgent consideration should be given to developing greater knowledge of transnational issues relating to young asylum-seekers and refugees, child pornography and abduction, and drug trafficking.

Ultimately, it is to be hoped that Union research and action in these fields would help to raise the political priority accorded to children's issues, and thereby open up an important but hitherto neglected discussion on the possibility of extending a degree of legal competence to the Union in relation to child welfare policy.

Sandy Ruxton is European Officer at NCH Action For Children. 'Children in Europe' will be available from 10 July from the Information Department, NCH Action for Children, 85 Highbury Park, London N5 1UD. Telephone +44 (0)171 226 2033, Fax +44 (0)171 226 2537. The price is £25, but please add £3 for postage and packing if you are ordering from outside the UK.