Poverty, child protection and rights – a legal analysis

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have the right to a standard of living adequate for their development. The responsibility to realize this lies primarily with parents, but states have a duty to support parents and an ultimate responsibility to protect children from harm. Yet, studies show that children in Sweden are affected by economic vulnerability, and that the right to financial support is conditional, leading to a risk that children's needs are not being met. This article looks at how the social services in Sweden should deal with child poverty. From a legal perspective it is examined what applies in situations where children do not have their basic needs met and where parents are not granted financial support. An important question is whether there are legal prerequisites to take children into care in such a situation. It is shown that there are no explicit legal provisions legitimizing taking children into care solely on the basis of poverty. Further, case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and statements from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, indicate that taking children into care because of poverty is a disproportionate restriction of children's rights. However, the national legal framework is unclear. Children are to be protected from harm, but the parents who do not meet the conditions set out by the social services are denied financial support. Overall, this means that there is a risk that children will be taken into care as a result of poverty, even though the needs could be met through financial support. The article discusses the need for legal clarifications and reforms in order to better protect children’s needs and rights.