Second Feasibility Study for a Child Guarantee

The main responsibility to provide for children's well-being lies with their parents. Where they are not able to do so, the State is obliged to help them or to intervene on their behalf1. Public expenditure required to address the negative consequences of child poverty and social exclusion tends to be much greater than expenditures made at an early age of children. Early intervention and prevention would bring long-term benefits for children, their families and society as a whole. This is the common rationale behind the idea that the State should provide for a Child Guarantee Scheme. This study will try to define an economic implementing framework for a possible EU child guarantee that is in accordance with the 2013 Commission Recommendation on Investing in Children. This economic and financial framework should be designed in line with the results of the first phase of the PA (Preparatory Actions). At the same time, synergies and economies of scale allowing for the re-dimensioning of a guarantee scheme should be identified and examined. The overall objective of this action is thus to prepare a detailed comprehensive study exploring what would be the most cost-effective strategy for the competent authorities to realise in practice such a child guarantee for all children at risk of poverty in the EU. This study, which is complementary to the first phase, should aim at providing a thorough economic and financial analysis of the design, feasibility, governance and implementation options of a possible future Child Guarantee Scheme in all EU Member States. PAs are tools for the European Parliament (EP) to formulate new political priorities and to introduce new initiatives that might eventually turn into standing EU activities and programmes with their own budget lines. A PA is designed to prepare possible proposals with a view to the adoption of future actions such as EU policies, legislation, and programmes with funding for not more than three years, during which time a legal base needs to be established in secondary legislation, if the action is to continue beyond the three years.