Feasibility study for a child guarantee. Target group discussion paper on children with a migrant background (including refugee children)

For the purpose of this study, children with a migrant background are defined as children with at least one parent born outside the EU. According to EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data, their share in the population of children amounts to 7.1% at EU level, but varies between 0.1% in Romania and 27% in Austria. Given the doubtful representativeness of existing microdata for households with a migrant background, it appears hazardous to estimate their number in the EU as a whole. As regards ‘refugee children’, only official figures on recent applications for asylum can be used: in the fouryear period 2015-2018, approximately 1.2 million new child applicants have been registered for the EU as a whole. The total number of so-called ‘children in migration’ is undoubtedly much higher, as many do so under a different immigration status