Unicef warns that the child poverty gap is more marked now and penalizes more than a third of minors in the Region
More than 10,000 children in the Region are in a situation of severe material poverty, and 100,000 children are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The data was provided yesterday by the president of Unicef in Murcia, Amparo Marzal, who alerted the Special Commission for Children and Adolescents of the Regional Assembly of the incidence of child poverty in the Region.
Marzal explained that the 10,000 children who are in a situation of severe material poverty cannot afford one week of vacation a year, eat meat or fish twice a week, or face unforeseen expenses. “Although there is a certain positive trend, the extremes are now greater, inequality has worsened,” she warned before recalling data such as the child poverty rate, which stands at 33%; and that although the school dropout rate has improved by 4 points, there are still 18.7% of young people who drop out of school. Regarding the digital divide, he said that “there are few limits on the part of families” and that there are difficulties for all children to have access to the Internet. The Commission also addressed the problem of mental health, and Marzal denounced that, after the pandemic, “cases of self-harm or suicidality have multiplied by three.”
The president of Unicef called on the parliamentary groups to come out of the commission with a “concrete political and social commitment to children and for children.” She also hopes that the new Children’s Law “can collect the reality of the Region from the point of view of children, so we ask for a follow-up by the Government and the Assembly of the agreements adopted in this matter.”
In addition, he asked that at least 5% of the European Social Fund be allocated to European child guarantee issues to attend to all vulnerable groups and that the management of said item “be as transparent as possible.”
On behalf of the parliamentary groups, the PP deputy Maruja Pelegrín warned that better coordination is needed between the three public administrations in policies for children and adolescents. “The concept of child poverty in Spain is worrying and, unfortunately, our Region cannot isolate itself from this phenomenon,” she said.
The socialist Toñi Abenza recalled that they have asked the Assembly to organize plenary sessions on childhood and adolescence. “In the Region we suffer from structural poverty,” she said, criticizing the PP for “always talking about the national government when talking about data on poverty in the Region.” The socialist said that they are going to present an initiative to create an Observatory for Children in the Region “so that we can monitor the pact for children signed in 2016 and of which nothing has yet been done.”
From the liberal parliamentary group, Francisco Álvarez recalled that the Children’s Law contemplates the creation of the Autonomous Observatory and the Council for Children and Adolescents, in which Unicef could be integrated as well as other related social agents. María Marín, from the Joint Group, assured that “We can work for children and adolescents in the Region is a priority.”
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