Brussels-Sana
A new European Union report revealed that child poverty has reached unacceptable levels across the bloc's countries and that the situation is likely to be exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Associated Press quoted the European Union’s external auditing committee as saying in the report published today that “About 23 million people under the age of eighteen, or nearly one in four children, are at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the unified bloc consisting of 27 countries. “.
The report added that "the member states of the Union must coordinate efforts quickly to combat child poverty, as the epidemic is expected to cause an increase in the unemployment rate in the euro area from 7.5 percent in 2019 to about 9.5 percent during the current year, which will have devastating consequences on the livelihood of the population."
In turn, Tony Murphy, a member of the European Court of Auditors and the supervisor of the report, explained during a video conference that “Child poverty is a serious problem in the European Union and without taking sustainable and targeted measures, the current unacceptable level will exacerbate the situation that has become more dangerous with the repercussions of the Corona virus.”
The authors of the report revealed that the leaders of the European Union countries had failed to fulfill their promise of lifting about 20 million people out of poverty by the end of 2020 compared to 2008, as according to the indicators of the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), only 7.5 million people were lifted out of poverty by 2018.