The Consequences of the Recent Economic Crisis and Government Reactions for Children

The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the different policy reactions of European governments to the recent economic crisis on income distribution and poverty, giving special attention to children. Almost all the governments introduced fiscal stimulus packages in the first phase of the crisis. Nonetheless, the persistence of bad economic conditions led to a drop in the countries’ revenues with a deterioration of their fiscal conditions. In addition, the pressure coming from the financial markets and the resurgence of an orthodox policy approach pushed many governments to introduce austerity measures since 2010. In particular, there was a growing consensus about the necessity of fiscal consolidation despite awareness of the possible negative impact on economic performance and social outcomes. Some governments preferred to increase taxes while others preferred to reduce public expenditure, also cutting benefits and services for children and their families.