Description of funding programme

• Author: Applica, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission), Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)
• Pages: 106-112

Case studies on the effectiveness of funding programmes – Key findings and study reports

106

1 Description of funding programme

Access to decent housing is one of the five areas mentioned i n the Preparatory Action on

establishing a Child Guarantee Scheme introduced by the European Parliament in 2017.

The Preparatory Action is aimed at introducing a framework that is in accordan ce with the

Recommendation on Investing in children (which the European Commission made in

2013128) and the European Pillar of Social Rights (ESPR)129. The European Commission

monitors and supports th e implementation of the Recommendation and ESPR by l ooking

at the evolution of key policies through the European Semester and ad vising how best to

use EU funds to invest in children, as well as disseminating innovative practi ces.

The main purpose of the case study was to ex amine the role that EU fun ding can play in

stimulating the development and roll-out of both innovative and proven kinds of

intervention addressing homelessness and housing exclusion130 for children and their

families. The case study is based on desk research on relevant studies, evaluations and

administrative data at European and national level, as well as interviews with national

officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in the

implementation of projects focused on homeless chil dren and their families.

The European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA)

defines child homelessness as ‘a process where most of the children concerned are moving

frequently between the streets, situations of homelessness, forms of in secure housing

(living with family and friends) or inadequate housing (in squats or makeshift dwellings)’131.

According to FEANTSA, the causes of child homelessness consist of a combination of

structural, institutional, relational and personal factors and are conn ected to the poverty

and homelessness experienced by adults. Although general policies to prevent child

homelessness exist, such as those in relation to social security protection, housing,

education and healthcare, the number of homeless children seems to be rising in particular

countries132. For example, in Ireland 3,333 children were homeless in November 2017,

which was a 276% increase since 2014. In Sweden, a 60% increase in the number of

children in emergency accommodation was registered between 2011 a nd 2017, and the

same 60% increase can be observed in the numbers of children registered as homeless by

local authorities in France in 2015 compared with 2013133. At EU level, the severe housing

deprivation rate experienced by households with dependent children was 5.8%, compared

with 2.2% for households without children, in 2017. At the same time severe housing

deprivation experienced by people ag ed less than 18 was 6.0 , compared with 4.0 for the

total population134.

A number of EU funds address the issue of homelessness and housing exclusion for children

and their families by:

• supporting i nvestment i n social housing and soci al infrastructure (European

Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Agricultural Fund for Rural

Development (EAFRD));

128 European Commission (2013).

129 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/european-

pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20-principles_en.

130 The European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion (ETHOS) defines 13 operational categories

corresponding to homelessness across Europe: rooflessness (without a shelter of any kind, sleeping rough);

houselessness (with a place to sleep but temporary in institutions or shelter); living in insecure housing

(threatened with severe exclusion due to insecure tenancies, eviction, domestic violence); living in inadequate

housing (in caravans on illegal campsites, in unfit housing, in extreme overcrowding). Available at:

https://www.feantsa.org/download/ethos2484215748748239888.pdf.

131 FEANTSA (2007).

132 FEAD (2018).

133 FEANTSA (2018).

134 Eurostat database: Severe housing deprivation rate by age, sex and poverty status – EU-SILC survey.