Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-19-Speech-2-118"
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"en.20101019.6.2-118"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, the data on world poverty are alarming, disturbing and unforgiving. The number of people living below the poverty line is rising all the time, just as the gap between those who live in penury and those who enjoy a high standard of living is constantly widening.
According to the latest United Nations report on the state of the world’s cities, 827 million people live in shanty towns today, and that number will continue to grow by an average of 6 million every year. As has already been emphasised, Europe is not a stranger to this: today, almost 80 million of our citizens are living in poverty – 16% of the Union’s population – and a good 19 million of them are children.
This year, 2010, has been declared the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, and that forms the backdrop to the report we are discussing today. I was determined that the final text should analyse certain aspects that I consider extremely important, and I am grateful to Mrs Figueiredo for that. The recent economic crisis has resulted in a rise in unemployment. Unfortunately, it is once again women who have been hit hardest. Fighting poverty first of all requires policies that promote employment, particularly for women and young people.
Everyone ought to be able to enjoy enough money to guarantee a decent standard of living. It is a fact: the minimum wage can play an important role in combating poverty, by offering everyone the chance to take an active part in social, cultural and political life. Nonetheless, each Member State must be free to decide whether to adopt a minimum wage; it must not be a decision made at Union level.
To achieve true social integration and combat situations of degradation and poverty, we must not rely merely on social security measures: we need to aim our sights higher. Let us therefore fight for better structural reforms and work towards more incisive employment policies, so as to encourage the weaker sections of society to join the labour market."@en1
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