21 June 2019

Ongoing challenges to advancing child rights

Fundamental Rights Report 2019: Not all children benefit equally from efforts to guarantee child rights.
Some groups face particular difficulties.

Child poverty remains a concern

  • Children at risk of poverty fell from 28% in 2012 to 25% in 2017
  • But for children with foreign parents it rose from 36% in 2016 to 41% in 2017
  • Regional disparities continue with child poverty rates ranging from 15% up to more than 40% in some Member States
  • EU and national efforts to address child poverty are emerging

Children in migration

  • Asylum-seeking children fell from 215,000 in 2017 to 170,000 in 2018
  • Unaccompanied children applications dropped from 31,000 in 2017 to 19,800 in 2018
  • Unaccompanied and separated children arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean fell from 13,300 in the first 7 months of 2017 to 3,500 in the same period of 2018
  • But, reception conditions for children in some Member States remain a serious problem due to inadequate accommodation and access to education, and the use of immigration detention

Towards child-friendly justice

  • Member States have to transpose EU law on safeguards for children who are suspects or accused in criminal proceedings by June 2019
  • This will make proceedings more child-friendly
  • Only a few Member States had completed transposition by the end of 2018