Caritas Europa: Poverty & inequalities on the rise – people need fair solutions
Caritas Europa’s new report on the impact of the crisis reveals disturbing levels of poverty and deprivation in the seven EU countries worst hit by the economic crisis: Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain.
The EU and its member states continue to address the ongoing crisis by focusing mainly on economic policies – at the expenses of social policies. As a result, the policies put in place are having a devastating impact on the people of Europe. The failure of the EU and its member states to provide concrete support on the scale required to assist those experiencing difficulties, to protect essential public services, and to create employment, is likely to prolong the crisis.
The report is the third annual edition in a series of in-depth examinations of the human impact that austerity policies are having on people in the EU. It also documents the growing number of people struggling with poverty and social exclusion (123 million in the EU, or 24%).
The report – entitled “Poverty and Inequalities on the Rise – Just social systems needed as the solution!” – depicts an unfair Europe, where social risks are increasing, social systems are being downsized and individuals and families are falling deeper into poverty. It shows a Europe where social cohesion is fading and where people’s trust in political institutions is increasingly weakening. This creates a risk for Europe on a greater, long-term scale, as racism, xenophobia and the spread of hate intensifies. Social unrest has risen by 12% in the last five years, higher than any other region of the world.
With the report, Caritas Europa strongly challenges the official discourse suggesting that the worst of the economic crisis is over. The crisis is not over. Social rights are clearly being challenged in Europe as a result of the economic crisis evolving into a social and increasingly more political crisis. Current political choices, eroding the social dimension of Europe, are having an extremely negative impact on vulnerable people.
