What changed

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

P10_TA(2026)0049

on developingDeveloping a new EU anti-poverty strategy

(2025/2095(INI))

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs

PE774.256

European Parliament resolution of 12 February 2026 on developing a new EU anti-poverty strategy (2025/2095(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A10-000/2025),(A10-0260/2025),

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A. whereas in 2024, 93.393,3 million people in the EU (21.0(21,0 % of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which is only slightly lower than the 2019 level; and whereas in 2024, 21.921,9 % of the EU population living in family households with dependent children were at risk of poverty or social exclusion;

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B. whereas severe material deprivation is defined as the lack of necessary and desirable items required to lead an adequate life; whereas, in 2024, 6.46,4 % of the EU population experienced severe material and social deprivation, including lack of adequate heating, overcrowded housing and inadequate nutrition; whereas children and women are disproportionately affected by this phenomenon compared to other population groups;

C. whereas in the 2021 EPSR action plan, the EU adopted the target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030, compared to 2019 figures, including at least 5 million children; whereas even reaching this target would mean that around 78 million people in the EU, including 15 million children, would still be at risk of poverty and social exclusion by that time; whereas the Member States have committed themselves to national targets in order to achieve this headline goal and whereas the trend is pointing in the opposite direction for nearly half of the Member States;

✦ Wording Drops the phrase 'a more equitable distribution of wealth' from the list of requirements.

D. whereas poverty constitutes a violation of human dignity that undermines the full realisation of human rights and reflects the unequal distribution of wealth; whereas the need to eradicate poverty requires a more equitable distribution of wealth, equal access to employment and services, and policies that ensure the indivisible and universal nature of political, economic, social and cultural rights; whereas poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon that extends beyond material deprivation and encompasses barriers to education, healthcare, social and democratic participation, and economic opportunity;

E. whereas without a change of approach to eradicating poverty at EU level, it will not be possible to reverse the trend and ensure that every individual has equal opportunities to participate in society; whereas the eradication of poverty requires a coordinated and holistic approach and integrated policies that work in concert to achieve social cohesion and prevent inequalities from worsening; whereas such a comprehensive strategy requires the involvement of Member States, local and regional authorities, social partners and civil society;

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F. whereas single-parent families, particularly those headed by women, face an increased risk of poverty, of 32 % compared to just 11.211,2 % among two-parent families, causing family members to more frequently become trapped in a vicious circle of poverty passed down from generation to generation; whereas systemic factors such as a lack of access to services, housing instability, income insecurity and insufficient prevention and family support services undermine families’ ability to care for their children in community settings; whereas targeted preventive family support and assistance, including to victims of domestic abuse, are essential to empower and protect these families and break the cycles of poverty;

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G. whereas indicators of the number of children at risk of poverty have increased from 23.623,6 % in 2019 to 24.224,2 % in 2024; whereas based on the current trajectory, the EU will fail to meet its target of reducing the number of children in poverty by at least 5 million by 2030; whereas significant disparities are observed among children of ethnic minority origin or from migrant backgrounds, children with disabilities and Roma children; whereas EU and national resources currently deployed are insufficient for addressing the challenge of child poverty in the EU;

H. whereas child poverty often stems from family poverty, and the absence of a comprehensive response means that poverty is perpetuated throughout the life cycle (in childhood, at work and in retirement); whereas in order to break intergenerational disadvantage, the focus must be on the entire family experiencing poverty – parents and children; whereas investing in children and youth, especially in early childhood education and care, including numeracy and literacy development, as well as family support, acts as a preventive measure against poverty and generates significant long-term social benefits, and should therefore not be seen only as social expenditure but as an investment in the future;

K. whereas, in 2022, the average Programme for International Student Assessment score for the measures of basic skills (reading, mathematics and science) of 15-year-olds had decreased by 10 points compared to the last assessment in 2018; whereas underachievement is prevalent among disadvantaged learners, demonstrating a widening of educational inequalities; whereas quality education, with a particular focus on strengthening functional literacy, numeracy and digital competence as foundational skills, is an essential lever in the fight against poverty, as it can lead to better employment opportunities, improved living conditions and a positive impact on both mental and physical health; whereas investing in quality education, particularly for people from minority and vulnerable groups, is one of the most effective ways to sustainably and structurally reduce poverty;

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L. whereas in the 2021 EPSR action plan, the EU adopted the target that at least 60 % of adults should participate in training every year by 2030; whereas Member States have committed themselves to national targets in order to achieve this headline goal and whereas the majority of Member States have lost ground in the pursuit of these national targets; whereas in 2022, the rate of adult participation in learning was at 39.539,5 %, still well below the EU target for 2030; whereas further substantial efforts are needed to ensure the provision of, and access to, quality training policies that promote lifelong learning;

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M. whereas women are affected by higher levels of poverty as a result of discrimination and inequalities compared to men, such as greater difficulties in accessing employment, wage disparities, lower work intensity, shorter professional careers, disparities in the value of pensions and social benefits, difficulties in accessing specific healthcare, and unequal distribution of care and domestic tasks; whereas poverty among women, in all its diversity, must be understood as a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon that includes not only social, political and cultural aspects but also income, housing, health and access to education and social services, and cannot be eradicated by employment alone but requires a comprehensive, inclusive approach based on both prevention and alleviation of poverty; whereas in 2024, in all but two EU countries, the severe material and social deprivation rate was higher for women (6.6(6,6 %) than for men (6.2(6,2 %), while the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate was higher for women (21.9(21,9 %) than for men (20 %) in all EU countries; whereas in the same year, 23.723,7 % of women and 22.722,7 % of men in the EU considered themselves to be poor, whereas 21.621,6 % of women aged 65 and over were at risk of poverty, compared to around 16.516,5 % of men in the same age group;

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N. whereas there is a strong correlation between poverty and gender-based violence and poverty exacerbates the impact of gender-based violence, especially on marginalised women, such as LGBTIQ+ individuals; whereas women living in poverty face a higher risk of experiencing violence, including intimate partner violence and domestic violence, due to factors such as financial dependency, housing insecurity and reduced access to support services; whereas across the Member States 30.730,7 % of women experience physical violence or threats and/or sexual violence by any perpetrator over their lifetime; whereas poverty puts women at greater risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation;

✦ Removes 'undocumented persons, migrants' from the list of groups disproportionately affected by poverty.

O. whereas poverty is also both a cause and consequence of intersectional discrimination, disproportionately affecting individuals and communities, namely women, families, people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, Roma and Travellers, people experiencing homelessness, children in institutional care, LGBTQIA+ individuals, older and younger people, undocumented persons, migrants, persons with disabilities, people facing discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, people facing chronic diseases and addiction, informal carers and single parents; whereas these groups are more vulnerable to social exclusion, in addition to the intersection with other forms of human rights violation; whereas significant barriers exist in the current labour market and social protection systems for vulnerable and marginalised groups; whereas addressing poverty therefore requires policies that recognise and combat these overlapping forms of marginalisation, ensuring the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights for all people;

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P. whereas in the EU in 2024, the risk of poverty or social exclusion for persons with disabilities was 61 % higher compared to people with no such limitations; whereas in the EU in 2023, approximately 20.220,2 % of persons aged 16 and over with a disability lived in a household at risk of poverty; whereas in the same age group, approximately 10.510,5 % of persons with a disability lived in a household at risk of severe material and social deprivation; whereas there is a 24 percentage point employment gap between persons with and without disabilities in the EU, and an even greater gap for women and young persons with disabilities;

Q. whereas Roma and Traveller communities continue to experience some of the highest levels of poverty and social exclusion in the EU, with up to 80 % at risk of poverty and 48 % facing severe material deprivation, and whereas Roma children are particularly vulnerable to these conditions; whereas data indicates that Roma women face greater disadvantages than both Roma men and other women in core areas of social life, such as education, employment and health;

R. whereas in 2021, 25 % of Roma reported experiencing discrimination in the preceding 12 months in everyday situations, including job seeking, in the workplace, housing, healthcare and education, as well as segregation, and socio-economic exclusion, resulting in disproportionately high levels of poverty; whereas 80 % of Roma live below their national at-risk-of-poverty threshold;

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S. whereas digital exclusion persists in the EU, depriving individuals and groups of fully accessing and using information and communication technologies, thereby hindering their participation in economic, social and political life; whereas a digital gap of more than five percentage points remains between urban and rural areas across the EU; whereas the digital divide potentially exacerbates digital exclusion for those experiencing poverty and is particularly pronounced among vulnerable groups, including people with low incomes or low levels of education, older people, persons with disabilities and people living in rural or isolated areas; whereas almost half of the adult population does not have basic digital skills despite more than 90 % of jobs requiring them; whereas 5.45,4 % of school-aged children across Europe experience digital deprivation, with substantial disparities in access to digital resources observed between different countries; whereas in 2023, 97.797,7 % of all households in the EU had access to at least one fixed broadband technology, compared to only 92.292,2 % in rural areas; whereas in 2023, 32 % of Europeans aged 16 to 29 were found to have below-basic digital skills, with this figure rising to 43 % among those with low educational attainment, highlighting a significant digital skills gap within youth demographics;

T. whereas access to fast and reliable internet is essential for participation in a knowledge-driven and informed society, as well as for access to employment, education, public services and healthcare; whereas the digitalisation of public services offers significant opportunities, but it requires targeted efforts to ensure the inclusion of vulnerable groups;

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U. whereas a person’s employment situation has a strong impact on their risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU; whereas, in 2024, 8.28,2 % of all people in employment in the EU experienced in-work poverty as a result of low wages, job insecurity and precarious working conditions; whereas analysis of 2022 data reveals that part-time workers faced disproportionately higher levels of in-work poverty (13.5(13,5 %) compared to full-time workers (7.1(7,1 %); whereas in-work poverty remains a structural challenge that places significant social and economic pressure on affected households and poses barriers to social inclusion and economic stability; whereas addressing in-work poverty is essential for promoting fair employment, reducing inequalities and ensuring sustainable and inclusive economic development across the EU; whereas collective bargaining, trade unions and social dialogue play a key role in improving working and employment conditions and, consequently, enhancing living conditions;

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V. whereas the 2024 EU Pension Adequacy Report highlights that in 2022, approximately 18.518,5 million individuals aged 65 and above in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion; whereas at-risk-of-poverty rates in this age group in 2022 were 14.214,2 % for men and 19.819,8 % for women; whereas the at-risk-of-poverty rate among those aged 65 and over has steadily increased due to both rising poverty rates and an ageing population;

W. whereas high-quality and affordable public services are essential for achieving high levels of social protection, social cohesion and social inclusion; whereas the delivery of high-quality public services is challenged by a number of issues, including problems related to service continuity, increased demand and insufficient resources, in part exacerbated by an ageing population; whereas everyone in the EU has the right to access essential services of a high quality accompanied by support measures for those in need; whereas people at risk of poverty or social exclusion face structural barriers in this regard, lack of infrastructure, skills or monetary resources, in particular Roma and homeless people;

✦ Replaces the recital on water access with a new recital on food affordability and moves the water recital to a new letter.

X. whereas access to water is an essential need and a fundamental human right; whereas approximately 9.8 million people in the EU lack safely managed drinking water services; whereas a further 9.4 million rely on basic water services off-premises, and around 450 000 individuals have no access to even basic drinking water services; whereas the lack of access to drinking water and water infrastructure disproportionately affects marginalised groups;

X. whereas in 2024 around 8 % of Europeans were unable to afford a balanced meal including meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every two days, representing around 36 million people across the Union, with the issue particularly acute among single people, students and young adults, low-income families and immigrants; whereas effective access to food should be considered a fundamental human right, as requested by an ongoing European Citizens’ Initiative;

Y. whereas access to water is an essential need and a fundamental human right; whereas approximately 9,8 million people in the EU lack safely managed drinking water services; whereas a further 9,4 million rely on basic water services off-premises, and around 450 000 individuals have no access to even basic drinking water services; whereas the lack of access to drinking water and water infrastructure disproportionately affects marginalised groups;

Z. whereas an estimated 1 286 691 people in Europe experienced homelessness on any given night in 2024; whereas Roma people and other marginalised groups are disproportionately affected by forced evictions from municipal accommodation, including Roma who are regular rent payers; whereas in many cases, authorities fail to provide alternative housing or adequate compensation for expropriation;

✦ Formal Renumbers the recital and replaces decimal commas with decimal points.

Z.AA. whereas there are still at least 1.41,4 million people residing in institutions in the EU, although this figure could be underestimated due to a lack of data availability, consistency and coverage; whereas poverty remains one of the contributing factors to family separation in the EU; whereas the placement of children in institutions has serious consequences for children and families by perpetuating stigma and social isolation and feeding an intergenerational cycle of disadvantage; whereas residents of institutions can often feel isolated from the broader community and, while they would like to have better control over their lives, do not have sufficient control over their lives and the decisions that affect them; whereas despite the fact that the EU has long been committed to the process of deinstitutionalisation, efforts are still needed at both EU and national level to enable vulnerable groups to live in a family or community environment;

AB. whereas people living in poverty are disproportionately affected by limited access to healthy food and quality healthcare; whereas poverty is consequently associated with an increased risk of physical and mental health problems; whereas the link between poverty and health is significantly influenced by barriers to healthcare, such as access to primary care, and reduced hospital admissions; whereas poverty, social isolation and chronic stress are closely linked, undermining mental well-being and increasing the risk of addiction and experiencing higher mortality rates, and increasing the risk of premature death; whereas poverty and addiction are mutually reinforcing, creating a vicious circle that exacerbates social exclusion; whereas eradicating poverty in turn requires a health-led, evidence-based approach to addiction that prioritises prevention and recovery;

AC. whereas families face multiple and interrelated challenges that no single service or organisation can resolve on its own; whereas continuity of services as well as proper coordination between services are essential to prepare for and facilitate the transitions that children will face; whereas families at risk may have limited access to mental health services due to financial barriers, stigma or lack of availability; whereas discrimination has a direct link to poverty, as discriminatory experiences prevent people experiencing poverty from realising an adequate standard of living;

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AC.AD. whereas social security systems must be strengthened to adapt to demographic challenges, new forms of work and the green and digital transitions; whereas the effectiveness of social protection in reducing poverty declined in the 2021-2024 period from 37.137,1 % to 34.434,4 %; whereas significant barriers exist in the current labour market and social protection systems for vulnerable and marginalised groups;

AE. whereas minimum income schemes remain an important tool for securing income and reducing inequality and poverty across the EU; whereas these minimum income schemes vary considerably between Member States in terms of the adequacy and coverage of benefits and their link to labour market activation measures; whereas minimum income levels are well below national poverty thresholds in most Member States; whereas the non-take-up rate for minimum income schemes is estimated at between 30 % and 50 % of the eligible population, which undermines the objectives of this support instrument;

A strategy aimed at eradicating poverty

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1. Is concerned that, in 2024, 93.393,3 million people in the EU were still at risk of poverty or social exclusion, including 20 million children, equating to one in four children in the EU, and that 27 million people in the EU were affected by severe material and social deprivation;

2. Highlights that poverty is a complex phenomenon affecting all areas of life, rooted in systemic and structural injustice, and intersecting with historical inequalities based on gender and gender expression, race and ethnicity, religion, migration status, age, sexual orientation and disability;

3. Stresses that the most sustainable anti-poverty policy is one that prevents poverty from arising in the first place; calls for a comprehensive approach to prevention that tackles the root causes and the multidimensional aspects of poverty and social exclusion, as well as the points at which they intersect, with regard to access to quality jobs, social protection and minimum income, public services, education, early childhood intervention, healthcare, food, housing, energy and taxation; emphasises that combating poverty can only be achieved by promoting policies that ensure the indivisibility and universality of political, economic, social and cultural rights;

✦ Removes 'undocumented persons, migrants' from the list of groups mentioned in paragraph 4.

4. Recalls that poverty disproportionally affects marginalised and vulnerable groups of society, such as women, families, people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, Roma and Travellers, people experiencing homelessness, children in institutional care, LGBTQIA+ individuals, older and younger people, undocumented persons, migrants, persons with disabilities, people facing discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, people facing chronic diseases and addiction, informal carers and single parents; emphasises the need for targeted measures to address this, paying particular attention to those most vulnerable to extreme poverty;

5. Recalls that the EU has committed, under the EPSR action plan, to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030, including at least 5 million children; stresses that without a paradigm shift in the approach to combating poverty, and without adequate funding, the EU and its Member States will not achieve these poverty reduction objectives;

6. Calls on the Commission to present a comprehensive, ambitious and adequately funded anti-poverty strategy that includes the following general objectives and guidelines:

✦ Formal Changes list numbering from 'a)' to '(a)'.

a)(a) recognition of poverty as a violation of human dignity undermining the full realisation of human rights and as a basis for the promotion of a rights-based approach in line with international legal frameworks, particularly Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

✦ Formal Changes list numbering from 'b)' to '(b)'.

b)(b) the setting of the goal of urgently eradicating poverty by 2035 at the latest, building on the standards of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the EPSR, while also developing interim progress indicators, clear milestones and a monitoring framework enabling adequate coordination of policies and funding needs;

✦ Formal Changes list numbering from 'c)' to '(c)'.

c)(c) proper coordination between the Commission and the Member States, and where applicable with regional authorities, respecting the principle of subsidiarity, to achieve this goal;

✦ Formal Changes list numbering from 'd)' to '(d)'.

d)(d) a comprehensive, people-centred and integrated life-cycle approach to long-term anti-poverty policies, combining universal and targeted measures starting in childhood and throughout all stages of life, with the goal of eradicating poverty and promoting social inclusion as a cross-cutting criterion in sectoral policies;

✦ Formal Changes list numbering from 'e)' to '(e)'.

e)(e) participation by people with lived experience of poverty in defining, implementing and evaluating policies that affect them, in an inclusive, effective and transparent manner that goes hand in hand with a methodology and capacity building;

✦ Formal Changes list numbering from 'f)' to '(f)'.

f)(f) a fundamental and horizontal principle of non-discrimination throughout the anti-poverty strategy to tackle structural inequalities and societal stigmas rooted in discrimination that exacerbate poverty and social exclusion;

✦ Formal Changes list numbering from 'g)' to '(g)'.

g)(g) the allocation of adequate and sustained budgetary resources for anti-poverty measures through the MFF and national budgetary mechanisms to support the full implementation of the anti-poverty strategy and ensure its long-term impact;

7. Calls on the Commission to acknowledge the structural links between poverty and gender-based violence and to address gender-based violence as a key strategy for eradicating poverty, in particular poverty among women and children, recognising that eliminating all types of violence is essential for women’s ability to participate fully in their communities and the economy, to access education, employment and social services, and thereby achieve financial independence; urges the Commission and the Member States to boost public investment in policies that address gender-based violence; welcomes the EU’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention and urges Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia to complete their ratification processes without further delay; calls on the Commission to ensure the effective implementation of the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, guaranteeing that women experiencing poverty and other types of violence have adequate and unconditional access to shelters, survivor support services, legal aid and social welfare, regardless of their residence or migration status;

15. Considers that the social economy is an essential component of the EU’s social market economy and a driver for the implementation of the EPSR and its targets, often providing employment to vulnerable and excluded groups; calls for the anti-poverty strategy to strengthen the social economy in line with the EU’s social economy action plan and the Liège roadmap for social economy in the European Union; reiterates its call for the Commission to explore innovative funding mechanisms, such as social impact bonds, to finance projects to support the development of the social economy in the EU;

✦ Drops paragraphs 16 and 17, which urged a directive on minimum income and called for fair taxation policies.

16. Expresses concern that, as highlighted in the 2025 Joint Employment Report, no Member State has yet established an adequate minimum income scheme reaching at least the national at-risk-of-poverty threshold; urges the Commission to present an EU directive on adequate minimum income and active social inclusion, while respecting the competences of the Member States, the national specificities of social protection systems and the principle of subsidiarity; stresses that such a proposal would contribute to the eradication of poverty and to fostering the integration of people absent from the labour market by setting common standards on adequacy, accessibility and coverage of minimum income schemes; calls on the Member States to ensure that minimum income schemes and other social schemes are adjusted to preserve their adequacy and accessibility, so as to protect vulnerable households;

17. Calls on the Member States to develop fair taxation policies; underlines that the fight against poverty has implications going beyond employment and social policies; highlights that effective social transfers, including child benefits, minimum income schemes, pensions, and energy and housing subsidies, are a powerful instrument for reducing poverty and social exclusion and promoting social cohesion; calls on the Member States to strengthen and adequately fund such redistributive mechanisms;

16. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, in the light of the cost-of-living crisis, to ensure access to affordable essential goods and services such as food, energy, water, housing, transport and communications;

28. Urges the Member States to ensure universal access to affordable, high-quality public healthcare for all, including prenatal, maternal, neonatal and paediatric healthcare – including primary prevention, vaccination programmes and primary care – access to diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, and access to a diverse range of medical and therapeutic specialist treatments, guaranteeing all women the right to sexual and reproductive healthcare, in addition to targeted measures to ensure early identification and intervention for those at risk of health and developmental issues, and also to improve targeted early childhood intervention services aimed at promoting the development, well-being and social inclusion of children;

✦ Rewrites paragraph 31 to reframe menstrual poverty as a structural form of poverty and gender inequality, and calls for an EU action plan instead of measures by Commission and Member States.

31.29. NotesRecognises thatmenstrual poverty as a lackstructural ofform adequateof accesspoverty toand menstrualgender hygieneinequality productsin andthe facilitiesEU, affectsaffecting an estimated 10 % of the menstruating population,population; underlines its disproportionate impact on women and disproportionatelygirls affectson marginalisedlow-income, refugees, asylum seekers, young people, homeless people, persons with disabilities, and others in vulnerable groups,situations; limitingstresses that menstrual poverty seriously limits participation in social, educational and professional life; calls on the Commission andto thedevelop Membera Statescomprehensive toaction proposeplan comprehensiveas measurespart toof tacklethe this,EU anti-poverty strategy, ensuring free or affordable access to menstrual products, includinginformation throughand adequate facilitiessanitary facilities, particularly in thepublic workplaceplaces such as educational institutions, workplaces, public buildings and inreception schools;centres;

30. Calls on the Member States to strengthen public, universal and solidarity-based social security systems in order to ensure full and effective social protection for all, including workers, the self-employed and pensioners, and to prevent and address the root causes of poverty and in-work poverty, in line with the 2019 Council Recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed; insists on the importance of addressing the challenges faced by people in precarious or non-standard employment, particularly young people facing age discrimination and lacking sufficient contribution records to access social security benefits, and including artists and workers in the cultural and creative sectors; calls on the Member States to address poverty among the elderly through specific measures, with particular attention to women, who are disproportionately affected; calls on the Member States to adequately take into account, in their pension schemes, periods of absence from work due to parental leave;

33. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to consider the hidden phenomena of poverty, to combat the stigmatisation of people living in poverty, and the non-take-up of available social benefits;

✦ Adds a new paragraph stressing the need to overcome administrative obstacles for vulnerable groups like Roma and suggests national identification numbers.

34. Stresses the importance of overcoming administrative obstacles that may prevent vulnerable groups, such as Roma, from accessing essential services and social protection, as these barriers perpetuate and exacerbate poverty and exclusion; underlines that national identification numbers could facilitate equal access to essential services while maintaining administrative clarity and accountability;

35. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to revise relevant legislation in order to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on socio-economic status, recognising its intersection with other forms of discrimination; underlines that a clear legal basis is necessary to ensure enforceable rights and protection for people experiencing poverty and social exclusion; further calls on the Council to adopt its position on the horizontal anti-discrimination directive in order to launch interinstitutional negotiations;

46. Deplores the fact that the number of children at risk of poverty and social exclusion has increased; calls on the Commission to ensure that the anti-poverty strategy actively combats child poverty through a life-cycle approach, considering that the first years of children’s lives are crucial to their physical, mental, cognitive, social and emotional development, and to their lifelong fulfilment, in order to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty;

✦ Adds a paragraph recalling the Commission President's commitment and reiterating the call for a dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion for the European Child Guarantee.

47. Recalls Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s commitment, in 2019, to ensure that every child in Europe at risk of poverty or social exclusion has access to the most basic of rights, such as healthcare and education, which was followed by the adoption, in 2021, of a Council recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee; stresses that the objectives of the European Child Guarantee cannot be achieved without an ambitious dedicated budget at both EU and national level; reiterates, in this context, its call for a substantial dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion for the European Child Guarantee; underlines the urgent need for this dedicated budget to be allocated in the next multiannual financial framework in order to respond to the growing challenge of child poverty and social exclusion;

48. Calls on the Commission to support the Member States in strengthening and fully implementing the European Child Guarantee without delay, to ensure access to effective and free healthcare, education, early childhood education and care, effective access to adequate and decent housing, and healthy nutrition for all children in need; underlines, in this context, the importance of effective and universal access to affordable school meals; highlights the central role of the European Child Guarantee in fighting child poverty and social exclusion, and recommends proper coordination and connection between this instrument and the anti-poverty strategy; stresses the importance of its full and timely implementation by the Member States; calls on the Commission and Member States to make available, and make full use of, all resources, including the ESF+ and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, to effectively implement the European Child Guarantee, while also ensuring increased funds to foster educational inclusion;

✦ Adds a paragraph welcoming the update of the monitoring framework for the European Child Guarantee and calling for continued improvements.

49. Welcomes the recent update of the monitoring framework for the European Child Guarantee and the inclusion within the framework of new indicators to improve the effectiveness of monitoring progress in the implementation of this instrument in the Member States; underlines the important role of data collection and monitoring systems in understanding the obstacles faced by vulnerable children and in enabling tailored interventions and resource allocation; calls on the Social Protection Committee to continue its work to improve the monitoring framework in order to maintain its relevance and address remaining data gaps and on Member States to use this common monitoring framework while adapting it to their specific circumstances with regard to child poverty;

50. Underlines the importance of after-school care and combating early school-leaving; considers that the anti-poverty strategy is an opportunity to promote the improvement in the quality of early childhood education and care services through adequate financial and human resources, training for staff, improved early warning systems, and measures for the evaluation and continuous improvement of pedagogical quality, such as literacy and numeracy, in order to ensure the overall development of children; stresses the importance of closing persistent gaps in functional literacy and numeracy, through targeted interventions in formal and informal education settings, to reduce significant barriers to overcoming poverty;

✦ Rewords paragraph 50 to call for a substantial dedicated budget for the European Child Guarantee in the next MFF, implemented through ESF+, with specific allocations.

50.51. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the European Child Guaranteeallocation hasof a substantial dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion into the 2028-2034European MFF,Child Guarantee, implemented through the ESF+, in order to respond to the growing challenges of child poverty and social exclusion, and for the Member States to allocate at least 5 % of ESF+ funds to specific projects and structural investments combating child poverty, with at least 10 % earmarked for the Member States with child poverty and social exclusion levels exceeding the EU average; emphasises that this investment in the next generation, in addition to ensuring the well-being of children, is a sound investment that would prevent future societal costs; stresses that the use of these funds should be transparent and require the involvement of social organisations in their planning, implementation and evaluation;

52. Reiterates its call on the Commission to carefully monitor the implementation of the European Child Guarantee in all of the Member States, as part of the European Semester and country-specific recommendations; considers that the country-specific recommendations should reflect Member States’ budgetary compliance with the minimum requirement of allocation for tackling child poverty set out in the ESF+ Regulation;

56. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure every child’s right to family life, meaning that poverty, precarious housing situations or lack of access to adequate public services are never used as the sole grounds for placing children in institutional care; recommends that the Member States develop national prevention strategies and proactive social policies to prevent the separation of children from their family environment; calls on the Member States to ensure that recourse to institutionalising children and young people is treated as a last resort, and to invest in safe foster care systems for children and young people to ease the transition from institutional care to family and community-based care; recommends that the Member States design and implement monitoring mechanisms to identify poverty-related family separation;

✦ Adds a paragraph recalling the EU objective of deinstitutionalisation and calling on Member States to use ESF+ and other funds to finalise the process for children.

57. Recalls the EU objective of transitioning from institutional to community or family-based care; recognises the opportunity provided by the anti-poverty strategy to build bridges with the European Child Guarantee, in particular with measures to support the target group of children in institutional care; calls on the Member States to make full use of the ESF+, as well as other relevant European and national funds, in order to finalise the deinstitutionalisation process so as to ensure that children can live in a family or community environment;

58. Condemns all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect with regard to children; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure investments in child protection systems, including tackling violence against and among children, e.g. cyber violence and bullying, especially when based on socio-economic grounds and affecting vulnerable children, in order to encourage the exchange of best practice in this area with a view to eradicating violence and harassment;

65. Emphasises the need for the EU to continue focusing on the fight against homelessness, extreme poverty and social exclusion, through adequate financial support, promoting mutual learning of Member States’ strategies and experiences, and establishing a systematic approach to monitoring progress and the efficiency of the measures taken;

✦ Drops paragraphs 64 and 65, which recommended a designated person responsible and a Commission task force on poverty eradication.

64. Recommends that the anti-poverty strategy have a designated person responsible at European Commission level; calls on each Member State to appoint a national coordinator and implement the anti-poverty strategy through a national action plan, with the involvement of those with lived experience of poverty, the local and regional authorities, social partners and civil society organisations involved in combating and preventing poverty in its implementation;

65. Calls for a designated Commission task force on poverty eradication, with the aim of monitoring the implementation and coordination of the anti-poverty strategy, as well as the integration of its objectives into other EU policies;

66. Recalls that the at-risk-of-poverty-or-social-exclusion (AROPE) indicator fails to encompass the root causes of poverty, notably by omitting persons living outside of private households, qualitative aspects of poverty and lived experiences of marginalisation; underlines that poverty extends beyond insufficient income or material deprivation; calls on the Social Protection Committee to work with relevant stakeholders on renewing the measuring of AROPE statistics in order to expand it towards a stronger, disaggregated and more multidimensional vision of poverty and social exclusion;

✦ Adds a sentence stressing the need for dedicated funding for food banks and accompanying measures for social inclusion.

67. Stresses that the anti-poverty strategy will only deliver results if accompanied by adequate funding at EU and national level; insists on the need to safeguard and strengthen cohesion policy in order to continue supporting economic, social and territorial cohesion and combating asymmetries between and within the Member States of the EU under the next MFF; calls, in this regard, for an adequate and ring-fenced allocation of funds to reinforce policies that contribute to eradicating poverty, including targeted support for marginalised and vulnerable groups; highlights the essential role of the ESF+ in promoting social inclusion and combating poverty, notably by providing aid to the most deprived and the European Child Guarantee, as well as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Asylum Migration and Integration Fund in this context; stresses the importance of optimising the use of EU funds, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility, to finance concrete anti-poverty measures such as affordable and energy-efficient housing, access to quality early childhood education and care, such as through the EU school scheme, accessible public transport and targeted energy support for low-income households; stresses the need to ensure a dedicated and sufficiently resourced allocation of funds for food banks that provide material support, including food aid, so that they have adequate operational capacity and the ability to respond swiftly to rising levels of food insecurity and material deprivation; underlines that such support must be complemented by accompanying measures that foster social inclusion and pathways out of poverty in line with ESF+ rules;

68. Recalls the thematic enabling conditions applicable to the ERDF, the ESF+ and the Cohesion Fund set out in Annex IV to Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament laying down common provisions for these funds, in particular enabling condition 4.4., entitled ‘National strategic policy framework for social inclusion and poverty reduction’; stresses the importance of linking the anti-poverty strategy and its funding to the previously defined specific objectives; calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that the common provisions of the ERDF and the ESF+ better reflect these specific objectives, and to incorporate the anti-poverty strategy into the next MFF, as well as gender mainstreaming;

70. Stresses that EU funds are difficult to access at local level and for organisations with fewer technical resources due to their complexity; underscores the need to simplify the implementation of EU funding mechanisms and the arrangements for providing final beneficiaries with these funds, and to train staff at the relevant public authorities and at the organisations; underlines that according to the ESF+ Regulation, the co-financing rate for support to the most deprived persons must be continued, to stay at or similar to 90 %, which should facilitate access to this financing for programmes and activities designed to help eradicate poverty;

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71. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The draft report views poverty as a violation of human rights and the rights of peoples, and considers that these rights – political, economic, social and cultural – should be fully respected, as they are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and should be at the core of anti-poverty policies.

Poverty and social exclusion are a reflection of the unequal distribution of wealth, in terms of both income and assets.

The multifactorial origins and multidimensional expression of poverty require policies that aim to achieve social cohesion and prevent inequalities from worsening. Effective anti-poverty action requires an integrated approach that tackles poverty at its roots in a comprehensive manner, with policies that do not compartmentalise or segment it, or view it as a natural or inevitable social phenomenon.

In 2024, 93.3 million people in the EU (21.0 % of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion; the risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU was higher for women than for men (21.9 % compared to 20.0 %); within the EU, professional status strongly influenced the risk rate of poverty or social exclusion, which varies between 10.9 % for workers and 66.6 % for the unemployed; in 2024, 21.9 % of the EU population living in family households with dependent children were at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

There have been fallbacks in some areas in the EU in recent years: indicators of the number of children at risk of poverty – child poverty increased from 23.6 % in 2019 to 24.2 % in 2024 – and the effectiveness of social protection in reducing poverty declined in the 2021-2024 period from 37.1 % to 34.4 %.

The Action Plan for the European Pillar of Social Rights, adopted in 2021, sets the limited goal of reducing the number of people in poverty by 15 million, including 5 million children, by 2030. Considering only this target would mean that around 78 million people, including 15 million children, in the EU would still be at risk of poverty and social exclusion by that time.

In the rapporteur’s view, it is therefore essential that the Member States and the EU establish poverty eradication as a political goal for social progress, whether in the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and the corresponding national action plans, or in the review of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The rapporteur also considers that this goal should be addressed comprehensively in all sectoral policies. The specific impacts that decisions taken by individual sectors could have on poverty should be taken into account, along with the need for coordination among them. It is therefore considered important to introduce an ex ante analysis of the impact of sectoral policies on poverty.

Statistical data confirm the significant impact of access to employment, fair wages and social transfers on reducing the risk of poverty.

However, they also expose the harsh reality of workers living in poverty as a result of low wages, job insecurity, and discontinuous or part-time work.

Furthermore, they show that women are affected by higher levels of poverty as a result of discrimination and inequalities compared to men, such as greater difficulties in accessing employment, wage disparities, lower work intensity, shorter professional careers, disparities in the value of pensions and social benefits, unequal distribution of care and domestic tasks, and difficulties in accessing specific healthcare.

The rapporteur considers it essential that the strategy lead the Commission and Member States to implement the goal of full employment as a guideline for economic and social policies.

In this context, policies to improve the quality of employment and working conditions should be promoted and supported, the creation of an instrument to combat poverty through the universal realisation of the right to work and the objective of full employment should be explored, and an initiative should be presented applying the Council recommendation on adequate minimum income that ensures active social inclusion and participation in employment and contributes to eradicating poverty.

In order to ensure full and effective social protection for workers and prevent poverty, Member States should strengthen public, universal and solidarity-based social security systems.

Both the Commission and the Member States should adopt effective measures aimed at implementing the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’, combating inequalities and discrimination in the workplace, particularly those affecting women.

Member States should pay particular attention to ensuring universal access to affordable, high-quality public maternal, neonatal and paediatric healthcare, and to developing policies to strengthen maternity, paternity and parental rights, promoting work-life balance, facilitating women’s return to work after pregnancy and maternity leave, and ensuring adequate conditions for breastfeeding in the workplace.

It should also be borne in mind that elderly people, persons with disabilities, single-parent families, ethnic minorities and migrants are groups that are more vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion, and that migrant children are overrepresented in the group at risk of poverty, and this specific situation should therefore be taken into account in measures to respond to and prevent poverty.

Child poverty stems from family poverty, and the absence of a comprehensive response means that poverty is perpetuated throughout the life cycle (first in childhood, then at work and finally in retirement), increasing the likelihood of intergenerational poverty.

On 14 June 2021, the Council adopted its recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee, with the aim of ensuring that children in need have access to essential services such as, for example, free early childhood care and education services, free education (including supplementary activities carried out in schools and at least one healthy meal per school day), free healthcare, healthy nutrition and adequate housing.

This important contribution to combating child poverty in the EU should – in the rapporteur’s view – be accompanied by a specific budget allocation of at least EUR 20 billion under the next multiannual financial framework, which will provide the financial means to support the national action plans for the Child Guarantee from the EU budget.

Another concern is the need to counter the stigmatisation and discrimination of people living in poverty.

Actions to reduce poverty often encounter obstacles in the form of stigmatising and discriminatory political attitudes towards people living in poverty. They are falsely accused of enjoying privileges and rights that are allegedly denied to other citizens. Specific policies and measures to combat poverty in its various dimensions are often cited as supposed proof of this privilege enjoyed by people living in poverty.

In other situations, it is the anti-poverty solutions themselves that result in the stigmatisation of people living in poverty. An example of this is the frequent ghettoisation of people living in poverty in social housing estates, which contribute to their social exclusion in a number of ways, including in terms of land use and urban planning.

The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy should include measures to counter the stigmatisation and discrimination of people living in poverty and ensure that actions against poverty are focused on social integration, addressing the so-called hidden phenomena of poverty and the non-take-up of available social benefits.

Poverty prevention should be based on promoting policies that ensure the indivisibility and universality of political, economic, social and cultural rights. These policies provide structural solutions with a comprehensive impact on social cohesion, counteracting the stigmatisation and discrimination of people living in poverty, as well as misguided approaches such as the criminalisation of poverty. These solutions should be complemented by immediate or ad hoc support measures, where these are necessary to provide adequate responses to the specific needs of the most vulnerable groups.

In this context, it is essential to ensure public investment in policies that guarantee universal, free and high-quality public services, considering their contribution to breaking the cycles of poverty, particularly in areas such as education, healthcare, social services, water and sanitation, and universal access to decent housing, energy, transport, food, and cultural and leisure activities;

The Commission should support Member States in promoting a housing policy that ensures universal access to this right, considering specific measures for the situation of homeless people; The Commission should develop a plan aimed at meeting the housing needs of all EU citizens – including the creation of additional and specific EU funding for the expansion and refurbishment of public housing stock.

The rapporteur considers that the psychological difficulties arising from poverty and social exclusion have not been taken into account sufficiently in the Commission’s mental health strategy and in national action plans. It therefore recommends that Member States implement specific measures in this area.

Based on the understanding that poverty is a violation of human rights, it is essential that mechanisms be created to enable the participation of people living in poverty in defining, implementing and evaluating policies that affect them. The creation of these mechanisms should aim to increase democratic participation, empower and emancipate people living in poverty, and achieve more effective and equitable results from those policies.

The rapporteur also considers that the success of the Strategy will depend on proper coordination among the various levels of decision-making and intervention. The scope of responsibilities at EU, Member State and regional level for achieving the goal of eradicating poverty should therefore be clearly and adequately defined, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.

The rapporteur recommends the establishment of an annual conference to assess the implementation of the Strategy, with a broad and diverse composition, including people living in poverty.

Based on the positive experience gained with the European Child Guarantee, it is recommended the Strategy have a designated person responsible at European Commission level and that each Member State appoint a national coordinator and draw up a national action plan, involving local and regional authorities and organisations involved in combating and preventing poverty in its implementation.

The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy should recognise and support the action of social organisations of various kinds that are involved in combating and preventing poverty, particularly through direct support for people living in poverty.

The next multiannual financial framework will need to play an important role in strengthening policies and social support that contribute to eradicating poverty, significantly reinforcing and making better use of the ESF+, the ERDF, the FEAD and the AMIF.