European politicians can sell something when they speak about poverty. The ideas are solid. The rhetoric lofty. But let’s face the stark reality; some are just not willing to commit capital and time to meet targets to reduce poverty.
Resolving the issue of poverty and homelessness requires a more inclusive approach that takes into account the whole individual. That means working on a case by case basis. Europe has the means, the infrastructure and the institutions to reduce poverty. Yet, it hesitates to commit to a macro-level policy.
Today, ministers from around Europe along with civil society organizations met at the European Parliament to discuss the matter. 2010 is the year for combating poverty throughout the EU. What does such a year entail?
As it stands, almost 20 million people in Europe live in poverty and many more are at the risk of social exclusion. Most of those at risk are single mothers. According to the European experts Congress on Nutrition, 30 million people are under nourished in the European Union.
Having a job does not always protect people from the risk of poverty. In 2007, 8% of the EU-27 citizens that had jobs still lived below the poverty threshold. This was before the crisis had even hit. As of February 2010, 20% of young people in Europe are without jobs and many of those are struggling to just get by.
March 25-26, European Council decided on five targets for the 2020 strategy. The 2020 strategy is a EU-wide policy ‘consensus’ on how to make Europe more prosperous. But one of those five targets was not able to reach a consensus. That target was poverty. The idea is to reduce poverty in Europe by 20% (by 2020) and to make this target legally binding.
Almost ten years ago the European Union had agreed on the indicators for poverty. Member states are now deciding that they do not agree with this indicator. And so the debate continues and in the meantime, the poverty’s ugly grip tightens.
