Why a pro-child long-term budget is one of the best investments the EU can make
And is key to boosting its competitiveness, security and cohesion
The idea that a boy or girl born today will come of age with better opportunities and living standards than their parents is no longer assumed but increasingly in doubt – whether this child is born in a European capital or in the global south.
Two-thirds of the Sustainable Development Goals on child well-being are off-pace to meet the 2030 target. The most vulnerable children will bear the brunt of this stalled progress, and even more so as international aid is under attack. Children in the EU are also not faring well, especially considering the wealth and resources available across the region. Almost 1 in 4 children within the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. 11.2 million children and young people in Europe are suffering from a mental health condition.
Yet rather than being a drain on its resources or a ‘nice-to-have’, investing in children is vital for the EU’s strategic priorities both now and in the future.
The EU has championed children’s rights over the last decades and adopted a Strategy on the Rights of the Child. Still, there is no better expression of commitment to children’s rights for the EU than to prioritize children in its budget, to the maximum extent of its available resources. This contributes to, rather than competes with, the priorities set by the EU in the next years: competitiveness, social cohesion and security.
Social investment in children is a prerequisite for the EU’s goal of becoming more competitive because it ensures a skilled workforce, promotes social stability, and helps address demographic challenges. The economic argument is undeniable with research consistently showing that investments in early childhood deliver the highest returns – not only for children and their families but for society as a whole. Economics Nobel Laureate James Heckman demonstrated that every 1$ spent on early childhood education can generate up to $17 in return.
Prioritizing children is also a necessity for the EU’s future cohesion. If the current and future generations of young people don’t feel the EU is looking out for their best interests and opportunities, the future of the European project is far from assured. As Pavlina, a 17-year-old youth advocate with UNICEF Greece, put it at the launch of the Child Rights Manifesto at the European Parliament ahead of the elections in June 2024: "Young people shouldn’t let others take decisions about them without them."
It’s also crucial for the EU’s stated aim of increasing its security. Improving the prospects for children around the world, especially those in fragile contexts – sources of migration flows and regional instability – is a key contributor to the stabilization of societies globally. Investing in such country contexts also creates societies which can become more resilient to climate and human-made crises.
In UNICEF EU’s new position piece ‘Putting Children at the Heart of the Next Multiannual Financial Framework’, we outline why the EU’s next long-term budget, covering 2028-2034, presents such a critical opportunity for children’s futures and for the future of Europe as a whole. We also cover the how, by recommending the concrete steps the EU can take to make the most of this opportunity across four key policy domains:
1. Domestic (children in the EU);
2. Enlargement (children in pre-accession countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood and Ukraine);
3. International development (accelerating progress on the SDGs for children);
4. Humanitarian (responding to children’s humanitarian needs according to humanitarian principles).
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