In Spain, one in three boys and girls live in poverty. These UNICEF figures reflect inherited poverty: homes in which children and adolescents cannot access decent living conditions, which limits their prospects for education and employment, while restricting opportunities and widening social inequalities. The child poverty rate in our country is worrying: the third highest in the European Union, with levels of instability at work well above the average. Only Romania, Bulgaria and Greece have worse data at European level.
The conditions of the childhood environment, such as health or family organization, directly influence learning processes. Those who live in vulnerable contexts during their childhood and adolescence have more difficulty succeeding in their studies. Promoting education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty in which many Spanish families find themselves and which affects the youngest, conditioning their present and future. Poverty is the expression of situations of oppression and exclusion. Social action must work to develop the capacities of families in the face of adversity, including their commitment to escape this unjust situation by equipping themselves with the tools that allow them to overcome it.
He CaixaProinfancia Program offers social and educational support to students aged 0 to 18 in vulnerable situations, as well as their families, through a coordinated, systematic and professional support process that allows them to access different services and aid organized in specific subprograms. In addition, to meet this social need, the Foundation, through undergraduate scholarships, offers the possibility of accessing university to minors with few resources in order to enhance their key skills and abilities for their academic and professional future.
Promoting change and improving their living conditions is not only a matter of social justice, it is also a sign of collective intelligence: lowering this rate will improve society as a whole and its future plans. The consequences of child poverty extend to adult life, with a high economic impact. The fight against child poverty therefore represents progress with very broad collective dimensions, guaranteeing equal opportunities, greater productivity and quality of life and sustainable economic growth.
Programs to combat child poverty
The “la Caixa” Foundation works with the aim of breaking the cycle of poverty inherited from fathers and mothers to sons and daughters. A work carried out through CaixaProinfanciaseeking a better life for children and adolescents who live in disadvantaged environments, promoting a model of social and educational action that contributes to promoting their social integration and that of their families, with the aim of promoting childhood development, the development of their family, school and social context with a comprehensive model and raising awareness and mobilizing society in the eradication of child poverty.
According to the latest calculations by the Consumer and User Organisation (OCU), the average back-to-school expense is over 500 euros per student. Families in vulnerable situations are faced with an expense that is often impossible at the moment. To help cushion this expense, the “la Caixa” Foundation is offering, as it does every year, kits of educational materials to the entire school-age population (3 to 18 years old) as part of the program CaixaProinfanciaand that there are already more than 62,000 minors in care in Spain and Portugal.
In addition, this program, aimed at families with children from zero to 18 years old living in poverty and social exclusion, guarantees solid references for their future and an optimal level of well-being that favors their growth and training, through educational reinforcement. and school supplies, open centers, summer camps and activities, family educational workshops, nutrition and hygiene for children, glasses and hearing aids or psychological support, promoting their talent and eliminating the barriers that prevent them from developing, thus guaranteeing an education with the same opportunities. for all in order to ensure a promising future.
The importance of continuing education
But when we talk about education in this age group, we are not limited to primary and compulsory education. Getting out of poverty also involves quality training once school is finished. That is why the “la Caixa” Foundation also grants scholarships to these children and young people at risk of social exclusion to continue their studies, with a salary grant of €600 per month to be received during the 10 months of the academic year, a one-off initial grant of an additional €600 for the cost of purchasing equipment and computer equipment, or enrollment in the public university or public higher education center to which they have been admitted.
In addition, to complete these secondary studies, a scholarship is added that includes additional aid to carry out an international stay, during which they will have an additional €400 per month and an additional €400 for travel and installation expenses, and English courses are also included during each year of graduation, with an official accreditation exam.
With the aim of providing scholarship recipients with the necessary tools to maximize their academic results and improve key skills and abilities for their academic and professional future, a personalized orientation program is also included in which scholarship recipients will be accompanied by an advisor and a training program in transversal skills that adapts to the needs of the different stages of their academic journey.
With the inclusion in these scholarship programs of EduCaixaStudents will be part of the group of scholarship holders of the “la Caixa” Foundation, a network of academic and professional talents recognized worldwide, and will be able to participate in activities organized to facilitate meetings and promote exchanges between members. , which constitutes an opportunity to establish contacts and create new links with people trained in all types of disciplines in the best universities and research centers in the world thanks to a scholarship from the “la Caixa” Foundation.
With this effort, the “la Caixa” Foundation works to break the cycle of poverty in which many Spanish families find themselves, especially children and adolescents who live in vulnerable situations. The objective is to promote equal opportunities, access to university and the construction of a dignified life path that allows them to escape the situation of risk in which they live, thus benefiting society as a whole, creating a more equitable environment and a possibility of future and change. for those who believed they did not have it.
