Protect What Works: The Case for Protecting the Child Poverty Earmark in the Next ESF

Recent years have brought important progress in the EU’s commitment to children’s rights and the fight against child poverty, including the adoption of the European Child Guarantee (ECG) and renewed action through the European Anti-Poverty Strategy. These developments demonstrate that both practical solutions and a political framework for action exist. However, these will only be transformative if they are matched by sufficient and earmarked funding. As defence and competitiveness increasingly dominate political and budgetary priorities, while national social budgets are under pressure or being reduced in several Member States, there is a serious risk that existing commitments will lack the resources needed to deliver real change for children.

Child poverty remains a widespread, persistent and profoundly unacceptable reality. Its persistence reflects not a lack of solutions, but a lack of sufficient political and financial prioritisation. When considering Europe’s competitiveness agenda is addressed, we must return to the same question as above: what is the ultimate goal of greater competitiveness? Competitiveness cannot be an end in itself. Its value lies in whether it delivers greater prosperity, security and opportunity for people. An economy that grows stronger while leaving millions of children and families behind cannot be considered successful.

In 2025, nearly 1 in 4 children in the EU, equivalent to 19.2 million children, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Although this figure has declined slightly in recent years, it remains above the 2019 baseline for the EU’s 2030 child poverty target. At the midpoint of the implementation period, the EU has made no net progress towards its goal of lifting 5 million children out of poverty or social exclusion by 2030. Meeting that target would now require approximately 2,800 children to leave poverty or social exclusion every day until the end of the decade.i

This paper draws on evidence gathered directly from Save the Children’s national experts in 7 EU Member States (Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Spain and Sweden) and 4 pre-accession countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia). The evidence was collected through a dedicated questionnaire, complemented by analysis and materials produced by Save the Children’s national organisations. It was further supported by a review of national biennial ECG progress reports and project-level monitoring data on European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) investments in all EU Member States.