poverty and health

Irish Presidency of the EU to host informal meeting of ministers responsible for homelessness on 1 March

The Irish Presidency of the EU is hosting an informal meeting of ministers responsible for homelessness on 1st March 2013. FEANTSA, Eurodiaconia, Caritas Europa and Red Cross EU Office have sent a joint letter welcoming this initiative to the Irish Presidency. They formally wish the meeting every success and outline some key areas for discussion. FEANTSA, Caritas Europa, Eurodiaconia and the Red Cross EU Office welcome the Irish Presidency of the EU Council’s announcement of an EU (...)

Go and Meet a Deputy! (Go MAD!)- NGOs urge citizens to Go MAD over the CAP Reform

Following the disappointing outcome of the January 23 vote by the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (COMAGRI) over the CAP reform, 25 farmers’ and civil society networks from 10 countries are today launching the EU-wide action: Go M.A.D. (Go Meet A Deputy!). It calls upon Europe’s citizens to directly interact with their local members of the European Parliament (MEP) and ask them how they will vote during the plenary decision on the CAP (...)

[Seminar report] Tackling Health Inequalities through Investing in Housing

The event ’Tackling Health Inequalities through Investing in Housing’ focused on the connection between health inequalities and affordable housing. It emphasised that investment in good quality housing can bring returns in health and environmental outcomes. Evidence shows that decent housing is an important social and environmental determinant of health These determinants lie outside of the health sector . Nevertheless, neither health professionals nor health policymakers (...)

Public Hearing in the EP about the Fund For European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAMD)

The January 23 hearing of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) was linked to the legislative report on the new Fund for European Aid to the most deprived 2014-2020 by MEP Emer Costello (S&D-IE). This scheme would deliver food aid, and provide homeless people and deprived children with consumer goods. The invited experts shared their experiences and their views on the new broadened scope of the Commission proposal. EP video: Citizens face (...)

[Seminar] Tackling Health Inequalities through Investing in Housing

The European Parliament URBAN Intergroup has the pleasure to invite you, this January 22, to a seminar entitled “Tackling Health Inequalities through Investing in Housing. Quality housing for population health and equity: EU cross-sector collaboration amidst health and social crises.” This event is a joint initiative organised by The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) and CECODHAS Housing Europe. For far too long, housing and health have remained in fundamentally separate (...)

Eurobarometer reports: Discrimination in the EU 2012 (1) & Accessibility (2)

European anti-discrimination legislation is among the most extensive in the world. In 2000, the European Union adopted two very far-reaching laws [Directive 2000/43/EC and Directive 2000/78/EC] to prohibit discrimination in the workplace based on racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. As far as racial and ethnic origin is concerned, this legislation extends to other aspects of daily life, such as education and social services. These reports (...)

Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion EU Commissioner: "The European Social Situation is Worrying" - Social Investment Package as a European Answer

"In this period household incomes have declined and the risk of poverty or exclusion is constantly growing in the European Union. Some population groups are affected more than others: young adults particularly, unemployed women, and single mothers. They are among those facing the highest risk of persistent poverty," Commissioner Andor said. The study of the European Commission published on 8 January 2013 follows a year which has seen several member states coping with escalating debt and (...)

Unemployment Remains at Alarming High level: Euro unemployment rate rose tot 11.8%. EU27 to 10.7%

Unemployment rates remain at record high levels. The euro area (EA17) unemployment rate was 11.8% in November 2012, up from 11.7% in October. The EU27 unemployment rate was 10.7% in November 2012, stable compared with October. Figures hit new highs and risk to undermine social protection systems in southern Europe. Eurostat estimates that more than 26 million men and women in the EU27, of whom 18 million were in the euro area, were unemployed in November 2012, which is the highest level (...)

Report on the EP seminar ’From Rhetoric to Action - Tackling Child Poverty and Promoting Children’s Health and Well-being in the EU’

On 4 December 2012, MEPs Jean Lambert (UK, the Greens), Marian Harkin (IE, ALDE), Edit Bauer (SK, EPP) and Sylvana Rapti (EL, S&D) hosted an EU policy makers and stakeholders debate in the European Parliament discussing the need for a comprehensive response to child poverty-health relation at an EU level. The seminar assessed the flaws of Europe’s fight against child poverty and raised awareness about the overlooked linkage between increasing levels of child poverty and austerity (...)

24% of the population (120 million) at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU in 2011

According to the newest Eurostat data, in 2011, 119.6 million people, or 24.2% of the population in the EU27 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion - compared with 23.4% in 2010 and 23.5% in 2008. This means that 119.6 million people in the EU are at-risk-of-poverty, or severely materially deprived, or living in households with very low work intensity (or any possible combination of this three factors) The reduction of the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion in (...)