Protect children from poverty: AK Upper Austria calls for improvements in social assistance

2023-10-04 06:18:07

Linz (OTS) – While Germany wants to combat child poverty with the agreed basic child security, Austria is still failing in this area. And this despite the fact that a fifth of children and young people up to the age of 17 in Austria are affected by poverty or social exclusion. “When it came to anti-inflation measures, the federal and state governments particularly forgot about children. Simple adjustments to social assistance would cushion the fatal effects of inflation. That would be a first step towards sustainably preventing poverty and especially child poverty“, says AK President Andreas Stangl. He calls for permanent, structural improvements in the welfare state.

Around 353,000 children and young people in Austria are at risk of poverty or exclusion. For example, they have to live in cold apartments, have poor food, are sick more often, cannot afford necessary medical therapies and have fewer educational opportunities. “To date, the state government has not managed to take effective measures to combat inflation. This particularly affects children in families on welfare. In a country as rich as Austria, it is a question of political will how seriously and sustainably poverty is combated“, says AK President Andreas Stangl.

In general, the process for receiving social assistance is often complicated and involves long waiting times for a decision. Austria is one of those EU member states where a lot of evidence is required. These are often too difficult or can only be obtained at high cost. This is shown by an analysis of the effectiveness of the minimum security systems in Europe by the European Commission.

In order to curb child poverty, the Chamber of Labor demands:

Social assistance must finally be designed in such a way that it prevents poverty. To this end, it should be raised above the poverty risk threshold of 1,392 euros. Given the rise in prices, this is long overdue.
Likewise, AMS benefits must finally be adjusted to inflation. To this end, the family allowance should be increased to 2.34 euros per child per day (around 71 euros per month). Currently, unemployment insurance only grants a daily family allowance of 0.97 euros per child and partner. That’s currently less than 30 euros per month. This value is from 2001.
In order to make social assistance more easily accessible to more people in emergencies, bureaucratic hurdles must be reduced. This requires, among other things, simpler application procedures and better instructions for those seeking help.

„In my opinion, the state government has forgotten about the poorest people here. Families with children in particular are facing enormous financial challenges due to rising prices. Especially if you receive social assistance or AMS benefits. In order to combat child poverty, it is necessary to increase AMS benefits at least at the level of the inflation rate or to make the social assistance guidelines poverty-proof. Furthermore, access to welfare state services should be made more citizen-friendlysays AK President Andreas Stangl.