A Plan to End Poverty for Everyone

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 12 February 2026 calling for a new EU anti‑poverty strategy for 2025‑2095.

Why it matters

• In 2024, 93.3 million people (21 % of the EU population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, including 20 million children.
• 27 million people suffered severe material and social deprivation; 6.4 % of the EU population lived in such deprivation, with women and children hit hardest.
• Single‑parent families, especially those headed by women, face a 32 % risk of poverty versus 11.2 % for two‑parent families.
• The share of children at risk rose from 23.6 % in 2019 to 24.2 % in 2024.
• The EU’s 2021 Social Rights Action Plan set a target to cut the number of people at risk by 15 million by 2030, including at least 5 million children. Even if this target is met, about 78 million people (15 million children) would still be at risk by 2030.

Core principles of the proposed strategy

• Poverty is a violation of human dignity and a barrier to all rights.
• A rights‑based, intersectional, life‑cycle approach is required, tackling employment, social protection, housing, food, water, health, education, digital access, gender equality, anti‑violence, Roma, disabled, homeless, rural and other vulnerable groups.
• The strategy must be fully funded, coordinated across EU, national and local levels, and monitored with clear, disaggregated data.

Key actions and targets

1. Eradicate poverty by 2035 – build on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the European Pillar of Social Rights.
2. Reduce poverty by 15 million by 2030 – including 5 million fewer children at risk.
3. Guarantee basic services – free early‑childhood education and care, free school meals, universal access to healthcare, clean water, affordable housing, energy‑efficient homes, and digital connectivity.
4. Strengthen employment – raise minimum wages, protect workers’ rights, promote equal pay, support lifelong learning, and reduce in‑work poverty (currently 8.2 % of workers).
5. Expand social protection – improve minimum income schemes, pension adequacy, and support for the disabled, Roma, homeless, and single parents.
6. Address gender‑based violence – link anti‑violence measures to poverty reduction, ensure shelters and legal aid for women in poverty.
7. Improve digital inclusion – close the digital divide (5.4 % of school‑aged children lack basic digital skills) and protect vulnerable users from algorithmic bias.
8. Support rural and outer‑most regions – tackle high unemployment, limited services, and energy costs that drive poverty in remote areas.
9. Invest in the social economy – use social impact bonds and other innovative funding to create jobs for the most excluded.
10. Allocate dedicated EU funds – at least €20 billion for the European Child Guarantee, and ring‑fenced money in the Multi‑annual Financial Framework for poverty‑reduction programmes.

Governance and participation

• The strategy will be integrated into all EU policies, with an ex‑ante impact assessment on poverty for every sector.
• A transparent monitoring framework will track progress, using the AROPE indicator and new qualitative measures.
• People living in poverty must be involved in designing, implementing and evaluating the strategy.
• An annual conference will review achievements and set new benchmarks.

Funding

• Adequate EU budget allocation is essential; the strategy must be supported by the Multi‑annual Financial Framework, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund, and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
• Simplified access to EU funding and higher co‑financing rates (up to 90 %) for the most deprived will help deliver results.

The resolution urges the Commission to present a comprehensive, ambitious, and well‑funded anti‑poverty strategy that recognises poverty as a human‑rights issue, tackles its root causes, and ensures that no child, woman, Roma, disabled person, or single parent is left behind.