A/HRC/44/40/Add.2 sophisticated economic analysis in the fight for gender equality, the Ministry of Equality unfortunately appears to rely on generalists, some of whom have studied economics, rather than employing specialists for this purpose. B. Children and youth 61. Figures from the National Institute of Statistics show that 29.5 per cent of children were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2018 and 6.5 per cent experienced severe material deprivation. 91 Child poverty rates are even more intense in rural areas among immigrant, refugee and Roma populations, and in families with people with disabilities. 92 Households with children or adolescents have a higher risk of poverty or social exclusion 93 and a full 29 per cent of households with children described “great difficulties” in making ends meet.94 Surprisingly, officials from various autonomous communities said that the best way to deal with child poverty was by addressing household poverty, problematically discounting the unique characteristics and lifelong impact of childhood poverty. 62. Public spending on family benefits is not only poorly targeted but remains among the lowest in the European Union, with limited impact. As of 2017 spending was around half the European Union average 95 and, according to Save the Children, had achieved a reduction of 6.9 points in the rate of child poverty, compared, for example, to 32 points in Ireland. Spain is almost unique among European Union countries in lacking a universal, non-contributory child and family benefit scheme. 96 In 2019, the family benefit for dependent children was increased to 341 euros per year for children at risk of poverty (1.3 million children), and to 588 euros for families in severe poverty (630,000 children). That is still very low at roughly 28 euros per child per month and almost half of children in poverty (1 million children) do not have access to the benefit. 97 63. The situation for youth is also challenging, with low rates of employment and high rates of dropout. There was a 30.51 per cent unemployment rate among those below the age of 25 as of the fourth quarter of 201998 and more than 70 per cent of young workers were on temporary employment contracts, significantly higher than the European Union average. 99 As of 2018, 12.4 per cent of youth aged 15–24100 and 19.6 per cent of those aged 20–34 were not employed or in education or training. 101 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 14 National Institute of Statistics, “Risk of poverty or social exclusion (Europe 2020 Strategy) and its components, by age and sex”. See also Save the Children, “Familias en riesgo” (January 2020). Submission from the European Anti-Poverty Network, available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/VisitSpainSubmissions/17_EAPN_SP.pdf, p. 2. European Anti-Poverty Network, “Poverty watch Spain 2019”, p. 4. FOESSA Foundation, “Rights violation: childhood”, p. 3, available from https://caritasweb.s3.amazonaws.com/main-files/uploads/sites/16/2019/06/FOESSA-Focus-Childhood_EN.pdf. Eurostat, “Expenditure on social protection benefits by function, 2017-table 1”; submission from Plataforma de Infancia, www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Poverty/VisitSpainSubmissions/ 5_Plataforma_de_Infancia.pdf, p. 4. Olga Cantó Sanchez and Luis Ayala Cañon, “Políticas Públicas para Reducir la Pobreza Infantil en España: Análisis del Impacto” (United Nations Children’s Fund, March 2014), p. 73; ILO and UNICEF, “Towards universal social protection for children: achieving SDG 1.3”, p. 41 (2019). Solidar, Social Rights Monitor 2019, p. 7; Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, “Real Decretoley 8/2019, de 8 de marzo, de medidas urgentes de protección social y de lucha contra la precariedad laboral en la jornada de trabajo”; European Commission, Country Report Spain 2019, p. 55. National Institute of Statistics, “Unemployment rates” (Q4 2019); Eurostat, “Unemployment statistics” (January 2020). Eurofound, “Young people, particularly those low qualified, bear the brunt of social inequalities in Spain”, 11 October 2019. Eurostat, “Social scoreboard of indicators”; European Commission, Country Report Spain 2019, p. 12. Eurostat, “Statistics on young people neither in employment nor in education and training”.