Europe and Hungary investing in children!

Hybrid conference, Friday 11 February 2022

One out of four children in Europe lives in poverty or is at risk of poverty and social exclusion. A more worrying trend still, is that children who grew up in poverty are most likely to suffer from social exclusion as adults. Against this backdrop and in the context of the Covid-19 shockwave, it is more important than ever to ensure inclusive access to childhood education and care from an early age.

That is why socialist and social democrats in the EU proposed the European Child Guarantee as a progressive policy response to address early on the vicious circle of intergenerational transmission of inequalities, but also in view of strengthening social cohesion and our collective resilience.

This hybrid Child policy public conference was the first of a series of events and looked at the implementation of the Child guarantee in Hungary. These were some of the speakers: Gábor Harangozó, Director Institute for Social Democracy, Lászlo Andor, FEPS Secretary General, Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Péter Márki-Zay, Common candidate United for Hungary, Maria Herczog, Senior Policy Analyst, Institute for Human Services, David Rinaldi, FEPS Director of Policy and Studies, Christian Morabito, Senior Researcher, Save The Children Italia.

Because the Child Union is a pivotal component of realising a truly Social Union, the PES Group in the European Committee of the Regions (PES Group CoR) joined forces with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in realising four events, with experts and policy-makers, in four European cities, to highlight the ways in which the local and regional dimension can bring to light the best practices of child policies and social safety nets but also inspire and inform on potential ways to realize real and measurable progress by fostering inclusion and equity in early childhood.

European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit intervened intervened through this video message:

AGENDA

Read the Policy Study ‘Country Specific feasibility study of the Child Union initiative – Hungary’ by Maria Herczog

Check what has been said on Twitter!

? We are LIVE ? https://t.co/tR9AqOkLbO#ChildUnion

Europe and Hungary investing in #children! is the 1⃣st event of a series w/@PES_CoR on the implementation of the #EUChildGuarantee at the local level!

Join on Zoom for ??-?? simultaneous translation
➡️https://t.co/pK8goId552 pic.twitter.com/IYlnDaNejF

— FEPS (@FEPS_Europe) February 11, 2022