On Developing a new EU anti-poverty strategy

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, people 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.