A campaign promoted by Austrian Caritas to support those in need throughout the national territory began in November. During a press conference held on 30 October to present it, the President of Austrian Caritas Franz Küberl and the Director of Caritas of Vienna, Michael Landau, described the situation of poverty in their country: some 460,000 people are forced to live in poverty in Austria; particularly at risk are single parents, the unemployed and large families. The number of people who appeal for relief from Caritas, because otherwise they would not be able to make it to the end of the month, is constantly increasing. “One person out of every four that turn to Caritas for help, has at his/her disposal, net of fixed expenditures, a maximum sum of two euros per day to spend on food, clothing or articles for personal hygiene”, said Küberl. The President of Caritas underlined the need for a “joint effort by the political parties, the Federation, the Länder and communities to overcome the growing gap between rich and poor, while at the same time putting in place an act of political reconciliation”. The Caritas leaders have identified three fundamental tasks for a modern social policy: “ensuring the means of livelihood in a uniform manner throughout Austrian territory and on the basis of specific needs; streamlining social bureaucracy; and promoting proper means of support to re-integrate disadvantaged persons into the labour market”. And in stressing the priority of the anti-poverty campaign, Landau also recalled that 113,000 children and adolescents are living in conditions of acute poverty: a “scandal” that must put an end to an attitude of “denying the reality”.
