Children and Young People
Even though Austria is a wealthy industrialised country, every fifth child (332,000 children) is affected by poverty. Child poverty does not only imply financial constraints and lack of resources. Moreover, it marginalises children, restricts social contacts and puts a strain on their health.
Child poverty includes family poverty and has an impact on all aspects of life: For example, children cannot attend school events or invite friends to their homes. Leaving on holidays is hardly or never possible, and these children are frequently exposed to cramped and damp living conditions.
Education is an important factor in preventing poverty. However, educational opportunities in Austria remain largely dependent on household income: Just 24% of children living in households at risk of poverty attend lower secondary school but 60% of children in high-income families do so.
In other countries, too, children are many times prevented from growing up with opportunities because they are raised in broken family structures characterised by violence, abuse, or neglect. In addition, children whose parents are confronted with different problems are often sent off to children's homes far too quickly. Such institutions usually do not have the appropriate staff and equipment to provide the children with the necessary care and warmth or to support them in their abilities and help them develop their full potential.
As an endowment contributor, you are free to select a project to be implemented:
Support for families in need
- Mobile family assistance
- Mother and child homes
- Support for children with physical and/or mental impairments
- Vacation care programmes
Lerncafés (Learning spaces)
- Learning support in a nationwide network of Lerncafés in Austria
Caritas Vocational Schools - Child day care facilities
- Counselling
- Psychotherapy
Youth Counselling
- Employment projects
- Learning support
- Street work
Your endowment contribution supports children and young people in need
Across Austria, over 2,100 children and young people are currently being supported in 54 Lerncafés (learning spaces). Another 860 interested learners are on the waiting list for a place in a Lerncafé - the demand exceeds the limit of the waiting lists. Your personal endowment with a contribution of EUR 100,000 could finance a Lerncafé of your choice for two years.