One in four children and adolescents in the Balearic Islands, 24.9% of those under 18 years of age, are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, according to Aldeas Infantiles SOS. In absolute terms, this reality affects more than 50,000 minors in the archipelago who grow up in families with serious difficulties to meet their basic needs and to fully integrate into society.
Despite these figures, the Balearic Islands is the third autonomous community with the lowest proportion of minors in this situation and remains below the national average of 34.1%. However, the organization has stressed that the impact on tens of thousands of children and adolescents compromises fundamental rights such as access to decent housing, quality education, good health and leisure opportunities.
SOS Children’s Villages warns that these inequalities not only affect the material well-being of children, but also have a negative influence on their school performance and social development. Material shortages, precariousness and lack of healthy living conditions also increase the levels of stress, anxiety and emotional problems in both children and their families.
During 2024, the organization assisted a total of 194 children and adolescents and 54 families in the Balearic Islands through different prevention programs. At the Palma day center, support was offered to 143 minors and 22 families in vulnerable situations, referred by social services, educational centers and primary care.
This resource provided school reinforcement, access to digital devices, snacks, educational workshops and recreational, sports and cultural activities, in addition to exceptionally providing food, school supplies and basic necessities. The organization also placed special emphasis on the mental health care of children and adolescents.
The work of the day center, as they explained, is based on a comprehensive and personalized approach aimed at strengthening family skills from a socio-educational and preventive perspective. While in the afternoons the intervention focuses on minors, in the mornings the support is directed to families, with actions aimed at improving parenting skills and offering training in areas such as digital literacy or job search.
To carry out this work, Aldeas Infantiles has multidisciplinary teams made up of professionals in education, social work, psychology and pedagogy, who work closely with educational centers, therapists and social services.
In addition, the SOS Children’s Villages Family Program supported another 51 children and 32 families from the islands in vulnerable situations or at risk of losing parental care. This program promotes healthy family bonds through psychosocial counseling, therapy, training in positive parenting and group activities, as well as psychological care and support for the labor insertion of mothers and fathers.
The organization develops these initiatives from a multidisciplinary and process perspective, in which it is the families themselves and their children who, with the appropriate accompaniment, build safe, stable and affective homes.
