Anti-poverty measures and rights of people with disabilities: the European Commission presented a social plan that proposes a comprehensive approach to eradicating poverty and strengthening the rights of persons with disabilities, which must be fully realized in every aspect of life.
At the heart of the first EU anti-poverty strategy, with the reduction of the number of people at risk – including social exclusion – by at least 15 million by 2030, aiming to eliminate poverty by 2050; the formulation of a proposal for a Council Recommendation to tackle the housing crisis and two communications: one on breaking the cycle of child poverty, strengthening the European Child Guarantee, and one on strengthening the strategy for the rights of people with disabilities.
According to Eurostat, 90 million Europeans live with a disability: only 55% are employed, compared to 77% of people without disabilities; 1,4 million people with disabilities still live in institutional settings, and 1 in 3 is at risk of poverty, almost double the EU average. Achieving full inclusion is therefore imperative. The plan presents itself as a response to three pressing challenges: the housing crisis (the lack of accessible housing is considered a serious problem by 40% of citizens, and one million people are homeless); barriers to accessing a rapidly changing labor market; and poverty, which affects one in five Europeans and one in four children—children in the EU are at a higher risk of poverty or social exclusion than adults, with no significant decline in child poverty over the past five years.
Read the details of the anti-poverty initiative package here (in English)
Read the details of the package of initiatives for people with disabilities here (in English)