Children and young people

Addressing child poverty is crucial to the achievement of greater social cohesion and sustainable social and economic development in Europe. Across the EU, 19% of children under the age of 16 are at risk of poverty; some 15% of children leave school without a secondary-level education; the rate of youth unemployment is about twice the average. Children in lone-parent families or large families, those with unemployed parents, from immigrant and ethnic minority families, or children who are disabled are most at risk of poverty or social exclusion.