Of Paolo Fischiardi
Between snowfalls at low altitude and very cold temperatures, the intense cold that has hit Italy recently is putting a strain on children and young people who live in problematic housing situations due to an economic condition that is anything but stable. It is not just a temporary inconvenience, but a barrier that prevents children from living their daily lives with dignity.
The percentage of families with a minor in their care who cannot afford to heat their home as best as possible in these trying weeks is very high: 7.9%. This number hides thousands of stories of deprivation that take place in the silence of the home. The situation becomes even more serious for families with a single parent present, reaching a worrying 9.5%. In these families, the burden of bills and household management often become an unsustainable load that falls directly on the shoulders of the children.
Save the Children draws attention to the serious problem of energy poverty by requesting adequate measures to help families in difficulty. The organization underlines how an integrated approach is necessary: we don’t just need temporary aid, but an organic strategy that puts children’s rights at the center of public policies. It is usually those on low incomes who suffer from this often silent problem, unable to cover the increased energy costs required by such low temperatures. Furthermore, many of them live in buildings with poor energy efficiency and do not have access to credit to improve their homes.
An extremely cold house causes profound changes in people’s lives. It becomes a place to escape from, losing its function as a safe refuge. And it is above all the little ones and teenagers who suffer the most, seeing their serenity compromised. Without heating there cannot be healthy environments, and without these the basis for respecting the right to health is missing. Energy poverty, in fact, leaves profound marks not only on the body, but also on the mental well-being of minors in a very delicate phase of their growth.
Not only that, in a very cold house a boy no longer has space to study and rest. The lack of a comfortable environment translates into a loss of educational opportunities, fueling the vicious cycle of poverty that Save The Children seeks to break. Precisely for this reason, the organization has chosen to join the Energy Bank Manifesto, with the aim of offering concrete support to those who today are forced to choose between a hot meal and a heated room.
