FEAD 2018 Catalogue of case studies

WHY? The beginning of the school year is a difficult time for families with a low income. From binders and backpacks to USB drives and other gadgets, purchasing everything a child needs is an additional financial burden that not all families can assume and it’s increasing inequality between students. To tackle this issue and alleviate the financial burden for families , the FEAD programme in Austria has been providing school starter parcels for children. In order to distribute these parcels to all eligible young children across the country, it is imperative that an effective management and logistics structure is put in place through which the Managing Authority and its partner organisations can collaborate effectively. WHAT? The school starter parcels consist of school bags with various items on typical ‘back-to-school’ lists. There are 11 different types of parcels that families can choose from. The Managing Authority decides on the content of the parcels based on research from the school authorities about students’ material needs. They also determine what is a ‘must have’ each year, so that the children are able to follow the same trends as their classmates. School bags are chosen based on current fashions and they are all made from eco-friendly, economic and high quality materials. Each parcel has a similar value and is distributed by the Red Cross on a yearly basis. In 2017 alone, around 45 000 starter parcels have been distributed across the country. The programme is the only such country-wide programme that provides students of all ages with school materials. Other similar programmes are only implemented at the state level and are only for specific age groups. Austria – Distributing school starter parcels effectively across the country Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection Images © Nico Schörgendorfer, 2018 Diverse approaches to supporting Europe’s most deprived: FEAD case studies 2018 8