Nearly two million empty desks

Asthma, eczema and respiratory conditions are more than just uncomfortable – they can also be debilitating. So, it is no surprise that the conditions that are associated with unhealthy homes are also associated with higher school absence rates.

Children are missing school days
European children under the age of 15 will miss over 250,000 days in school due to respiratory conditions, about 365,000 days due to asthma, and almost 1,100,000 days because of issues related to eczema (in total 1.7 million).

Together, the conditions that are often linked to living in unhealthy homes are responsible for about 1.7 million missed school days. On average, this means about 2.5 missed school days per sick child per year because of illnesses that frequently correlate with an unhealthy indoor climate alone. In comparison, adults in Europe average a little fewer than 12 sick days per year¹⁰.

Missed work, missed opportunities
When a child is sick, it affects the entire family. Parents must stay home to care for their children, which means less productivity at work.

To illustrate this, one study showed that more than 40 percent of parents of children suffering from eczema reported missing work to care for their children, losing on average about three days a month¹¹. For the children themselves, conditions like eczema and asthma are likely to last into adulthood, which could affect productivity in their own careers.

Unhealthy schools

In Europe, more than 65 million students and almost 4.5 million teachers spend between 170 and 190 days annually at school, and up to 70 percent of that time is spent inside the classroom¹². Ensuring a good indoor climate in schools is key to protecting children’s learning and well-being.

Just like at home, poor indoor climate in schools and day-care centres is linked to serious health conditions. Schools and day-care centres are also sources of mould, poor lighting, noise and ventilation issues. And in fact, there is much evidence regarding the potential detrimental effect on health of a variety of indoor pollutants that can be found in school environments, either originating from the ambient air or produced indoors from building materials, products or activities¹³.

Air quality is key here. But, regrettably, ventilation rates in classrooms across Europe often fall below national and European recommended guidelines – and that is harming our children.