What changed

13 Recalls Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s commitment in 2019 to ensuring that every child in the EU at risk of poverty or social exclusion has access to the most basic of rights like healthcare and education, which was followed by the adoption of a Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee in 2021; stresses that the objectives of the European Child Guarantee cannot be achieved without an ambitious dedicated budget at both EU and national level; reiterates in this context its call for a substantial dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion for the European Child Guarantee; underlines the urgent need for this dedicated budget to be allocated in the next multiannual financial framework in order to respond to the growing challenge of child poverty and social exclusion;

15. Recognises individuals who are underemployed and the long-term implications this can have on their earning potential and eventual pension outcomes; calls, in this regard, for the Youth Strategy to work towards ensuring that underemployed young people are offered full-time employment wherever possible;

72. Calls on the Member States to ensure that traineeship offers under the RYG guarantee equal treatment in working conditions, including pay and social protection, and are accessible and adapted to the individual needs of NEETs, including those in vulnerable situations facing additional barriers such as disability, health conditions or care responsibilities; stresses the need to ensure that no traineeship under the RYG contributes to social dumping, wage dumping or in-work poverty among young people, and that all offers are designed and implemented to ensure accessibility and inclusivity;

74. Calls forEncourages the development of additional gradual reintegration pathways for young peopleNEETs with fewer opportunities as explicit intermediate outcomes within the RYG,opportunities, to help them acquire soft skills, work habits, confidence and recognised learning outcomes beforeand transitioningto act as a bridge into formal education, training or quality employment; stresses the need for theunderlines inclusionthat inpathways such pathways ofas structured volunteering, civic engagement and participation opportunities, youth work, sports, social enterprises and community placements,placements can act as valuable stepping stones, provided that they are tailored to individual needsneeds, include robust quality standards and are linked to clear follow-up pathways;

75. Recommends the promotion of volunteering opportunities withinfor RYG schemesbeneficiaries and the creation of a European quality framework for volunteering; emphasises that volunteering has the potential to improve the skills and employability of NEETs and to accommodate vulnerable young people in a supportive and solidarity-focused environment; considers that the integrationpromotion of volunteering opportunities intofor RYG schemes couldbeneficiaries beshould achievedoccur byas creatingpart synergiesof withthe Erasmus+ programme and its European Solidarity Corps volunteering strand and by ensuring that young people engaged with, or seeking to engage with, RYG schemes areshould also be made aware of available quality volunteering opportunities funded under different schemes; takes the view that RYG providers from thecivil volunteeringsociety sectororganisations should be supported by adequate resources for the delivery of quality volunteering opportunities and other RYG offers, ensuring that existing funds for employment and training opportunities are not reallocated;reallocated and avoiding the replacement of potential quality jobs and traineeships with unpaid volunteering;