![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/logo-euronews-grey-6-180x22.svg.svg+xml\"){kind=logo}
ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\nADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
In 2024, 19.5 million children in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to the latest Eurostat figures. <\/p>\n
Between 2023 and 2024, the percentage of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU slightly decreased from 24.8% to 24.2%. <\/p>\n
At the country level, Bulgaria reported the highest rates in 2024, at 35.1%, followed by Spain at 34.6% and Romania at 33.8%. <\/p>\n
By contrast, Slovenia (11.8%), Cyprus (14.8%) and the Czech Republic (15.4%) recorded the lowest figures.<\/p>\n
Italy was the only EU country that did not experience any change, remaining steady at 27.1%. <\/p>\n
“Welfare state institutions play a major role in protecting children from poverty,” said Alba Lanau S\u00e1nchez, a researcher from Universitat Pompeu Fabra. “Countries with robust social protection systems tend to have lower child poverty rates.”<\/p>\n
The risk of poverty or social exclusion was also higher for children than for adults in 2024.<\/p>\n
Children in the EU were at a higher risk of poverty or social exclusion (24.2%) compared with adults (20.3%), resulting in a difference of 3.9 percentage points. <\/p>\n
Across the EU countries, 20 of them experienced a higher risk among children, with the largest differences recorded in Spain (10.5%), Malta and Romania (both 7.3%) and France (7.2%).<\/p>\n
The education factor<\/strong><\/p>\n Children whose parents attained a higher education level were less likely to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion. <\/p>\n In 2024, 61.2% of children in the EU living with parents who had at most lower secondary education were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. <\/p>\n For those with parents who attained tertiary education, the proportion was 11.0%. <\/p>\n This resulted in a risk gap of 50.2 percentage points based on parents’ education levels. <\/p>\n At the national level, the gap was above 50% in 16 EU countries. <\/p>\n The lowest gaps were observed in Denmark, Portugal and Estonia, while the largest differences were recorded in Romania, Czechia and Bulgaria. <\/p>\n Why is Spain among the top countries?<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite Spain having a higher GDP than Bulgaria or Romania, the country’s tax-benefit system is often pointed out as one of the main reasons for its high child poverty rates, according to researchers.<\/p>\n In 2021, Spain spent just 1.3% of its GDP on family policies, compared to the OECD average of 2.3%.<\/p>\n “Direct financial support to families was particularly modest,” said Lanau S\u00e1nchez. “Child-contingent cash benefits schemes in Spain have traditionally provided support to higher deciles through tax relief, which poorer households cannot benefit from, but little or no support went to low-income households.”<\/p>\n