Ministers of the Trio Member States (Lithuania, Greece and Italy), representatives of the European Commission and social platform, all agree that adequate care given to children matters to the future of the entire EU.
According to Algimanta Pabedinskiene, Minister for Social Security and Labour, "investment in children is a basis for successful social life-long development of an individual. Wellbeing of children is a prerequisite, although certainly not the only one, to ensure the young people are educated and ready to face challenges of labour market, and take active part in the public life. We must invest in children, prevent the poverty and social exclusion of children; this is how we accomplish better future for us and children alike".
The Minister pointed out that the topic of children wellbeing merits a better and deeper understanding not merely in social area, but also in economic, business promotion, and financial management areas. Investment in children on the long-run contributes to the competitiveness of the entire EU.
The discussions on Thursday included methods to combat poverty and simultaneously make use of opportunities offered by the new financial framework; the discussions also included the role played by the non-government organisations in tackling poverty issues as well as the need to ensure targeted benefits and aid to the children in need.
Children are at poverty risk, more than any other group of residents; this holds true to almost every Member State, except for Germany, Cyprus, Finland and Denmark. In the EU, 20.5% children face poverty risk. Poverty risk level of all EU nationals amounts to 16.9%. EU Member States are now seeking more efficient methods to deal with the said issue.
