A/HRC/25/48 reflect a lack of access to social services in support of parenting, including day-care or educational facilities.16 35. The Special Rapporteur has repeatedly emphasized in her reports that support to parents and families in their parental responsibilities and capacities should be a priority in order to prevent and combat the sale and sexual exploitation of children. 2. Economic hardship 36. Poverty exacerbates vulnerability when combined with other risk factors.17 When poverty is combined with one or several negative events, such as drought, loss of employment or death or illness of a family member, it places significant stress on families. When State institutions and social services are not able to provide adequate support for families in their child-rearing responsibilities and to offer adequate protection to children, poverty becomes a risk factor. 37. Globally, between 2007 and 2012, the economic and financial crisis significantly affected households and contributed to destabilizing the socioeconomic environment for children. In particular, unemployment and less secure employment have been on the rise, with young people bearing the brunt of the crisis.18 This has simultaneously affected the economic stability of families and reduced young people’s prospects of being gainfully employed, in turn increasing their exposure to risky behaviours and making them vulnerable to exploitation. Studies have shown that children are at increased risk of leaving education to enter employment after the main household income earner has become unemployed. Furthermore, evidence suggests that crises lead to an increase in the number of children living or working on the street and the number of children entering into commercial sexual exploitation in order to assist their parents financially.19 38. Although research indicates that in 2008–2009, governments managed to maintain social spending and offset the effects of the crisis on the most vulnerable, since 2010, the trend has been reversed. Increased fiscal austerity has led to significant cuts in social spending, including family benefits, pensions and delivery of social services, resulting in negative effects for households.20 39. The Special Rapporteur has witnessed the effects of economic hardship and insufficient social services in many countries she has visited and draws attention to States’ responsibilities to ensure the provision of adequate safety nets. 3. Migration 40. Migration has significant effects on the vulnerability of children to sale and exploitation. When children and families migrate to new places, they often leave behind the 16 17 18 19 20 UNICEF, At home or in a home? Formal care and adoption of children in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (2010). Available from www.unicef.org/protection/Web-Unicef-rapport-home20110623v2.pdf. International Labour Office, Training manual to fight trafficking in children for labour, sexual and other forms of exploitation: understanding child trafficking (2009). Available from www.unicef.org/protection/Textbook_1.pdf. United Nations, The Millennium Development Goals Report 2013. Available from www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/report-2013/mdg-report-2013-english.pdf. Isabel Ortiz and Matthew Cummins, eds., A Recovery for All: Rethinking Socio-Economic Policies for Children and Poor Households (UNICEF, New York, 2012); Caroline Harper and others, Children in times of economic crisis: Past lessons, future policies (Overseas Development Institute, 2009). Available from www.odi.org.uk/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/3749.pdf. Ortiz and Cummins, A Recovery for All; Harper et al, Children in times of economic crisis. 9