Advancing child and family care

Continuing the crucial work of early childhood education in Europe, we organised a citizens’ dialogue as part of the Festa Nazionale dell’Unità on 2 September 2024 in Reggio Emilia, Campovolo, Sala Berlinguer.

The discussion focused on:

• What has been the role of the EU Child Guarantee and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RFF) in facilitating the organisation and provision of childcare services?
• Why is the current government led by Meloni dismantling the European public investment that was planned to improve the availability and quality of kindergartens? 
• How should progressives in Europe relaunch the need to have inclusive and impactful child and family care for all?

Children in Europe hold the key to building more just and sustainable societies. Extensive evidence shows that disparities in life opportunities emerge early in life, primarily influenced by the socioeconomic status of parents, perpetuating across generations. and are often passed down through generations. However, early care and education (childcare and pre-schooling) can break this intergenerational cycle of disadvantage.

Progressive initiatives have significantly advanced early childhood care and education across Europe, starting from the European Pillar of Social Rights in 2017, recognising children’s right to affordable and quality childcare. The European Child Guarantee, adopted in 2021, urged Member States to ensure equal access to essential welfare services, including early childhood care and education. The European Care Strategy of 2022 further emphasised this by setting ambitious targets: 50% coverage of childcare and 96% coverage of preschool education, while stressing the importance of reducing access inequalities and enhancing quality.

Progressives in Europe have taken child policy seriously, yet despite the progress, much remains to be done to ensure quality early education and care for all. Unfortunately, right-wing governments are pushing back, cutting social investments that support families and education. The Partito Democratico (PD), along with the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions (PES CoR) and FEPS, is committed to resisting right-wing efforts to dismantle welfare systems and continue advocating for robust support for early childhood care and education.

The conversation benefitted from the inputs of:

• Irene Manzi, Member of the Chamber of Deputies, leader of the Partito Democratico in the Committee on Culture and Education. Member of the Secretariat of the PD responsible for child education services and family support, assistance to a school of community, Italy
• Simona Malpezzi, Senator, Vice President of the Parliamentary Committee on Children and Adolescents, Italy
• Kata Tutto, Vice-president of the PES CoR, Deputy mayor of Budapest, Hungary
• Enzo Lattuca, Mayor of Cesena, President of the Province of Forlì-Cesena and rapporteur of the European Committee of the Regions on the implementation of the European Child Guarantee in local policies, Italy
• Christian Morabito, International researcher and expert in the field of inequalities in early childhood education and care for UNICEF, UNDP, Save The Children, FEPS, and the European Commission, Italy
• Cristian Fabbi, President of Reggio Children and UNICEF consultant, Italy
• Gloria Riva, Journalist for L’Espresso and La Repubblica, Italy
• Liesbet Polspoel, Councillor for mental health, youth welfare and children’s policies of the Flemish Social Democratic Party Vooruit, Belgium
• David Rinaldi, Director of Studies and Policy at FEPS

For more information regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact Julia Wild, Project Officer (julia.wild@feps-europe.eu).