Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions – An EU Anti-Poverty Strategy

(C/2025/6322)

Rapporteur

Yonnec POLET (BE/PES), Member of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe Municipal Council

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (COR)

recalls the Nelson Mandela quote that ‘Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom’ (1);

Principles

recalls that poverty is a violation of human rights (2);

recalls that poverty is about material, social and psychological deprivation, acknowledges that its causes are multifaceted, ranging from individual circumstances to more systemic and structural causes and is often perpetuated across generations;

recalls that Article 3 TEU states that the EU shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, that it shall promote social justice and protection, as well as social and territorial cohesion and that it shall contribute to the eradication of poverty;

recalls that Article 34 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights acknowledges a right to social and housing assistance to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources;

recalls that Articles 30 and 31 of the European Social Charter of the Council of Europe acknowledge a right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, and a right to housing;

recalls the EU’s commitment to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development goals, to the targets for eradicating extreme poverty and to the 50 % reduction of the number of people living in poverty;

stresses that it has called for the European Pillar of Social Rights to address the issues of poverty, marginalisation and social exclusion (3);

denounces a toughening of the public discourse on poverty that overlooks its structural and systemic causes; is concerned by the growing conditioning of anti-poverty measures and the growing criminalisation of poverty in our societies;

Poverty and social exclusion in the EU

10.

recalls that, in 2024, no less than 93,3 million people (21 % of the EU population) were at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the EU;

11.

observes that the risk of poverty or social exclusion varies across EU Member States and regions, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, young adults, single mothers, Roma people, people with disabilities and the unemployed; these variations require differentiated measures, with the local and regional level being given the mandate and the resources to design initiatives according to local needs;

12.

stresses that, according to Eurofound, the situation of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion has deteriorated, with increased difficulties in paying rent, mortgages, utility and food bills;

13.

is concerned by the intergenerational reproduction of poverty which often affects families over multiple generations, and underscores the need for targeted policies to break these cycles through early interventions and education, both in preschools and schools, school health services, social investment and inclusive economic opportunities;

14.

underlines the fact that women are still at a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than men (22,3 % compared to 20,3 % respectively);

15.

recalls that the risk of poverty or social exclusion in single-parent families with children (43,5 %), which are in vast majority led by single mothers, is around twice as high as that for other families with children (20,2 %);

16.

warns that 21,9 % of families that live in households with dependent children in Europe (and more than 30 % in some countries) are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and that the child poverty rate in the European Union currently stands at 19,3 % (reaching almost 30 % in some countries);

17.

is concerned that, in 2024, approximately 1,287 million people, including 400 000 children, were estimated to be sleeping on the streets or in shelters and that many more did not have a fixed home and stayed informally with family, friends or acquaintances for an indefinite period (described as ‘sofa surfing’);

18.

stresses that the lack of data on poverty, notably amongst people placed in institutions, leads to an underestimation of poverty in the EU; also underlines that the local and regional level should be involved in the development of data collection in order to better target measures;

19.

is concerned that disadvantaged groups such as Roma, migrants or homeless people, as well as people living in rural or remote areas, still face challenges in fully accessing essential services such as water, sanitation, energy, transport, financial services and digital communication services. Efforts to ensure access should be coordinated with the local and regional level where the services are actually provided;

Understanding poverty to better fight its root causes

20.

recalls that poverty is a combination of individual, social and structural factors. It has its roots in personal conditions, life accidents, physical and mental health conditions, legal and residence status;

21.

stresses that greater solidarity is needed and that there is a collective responsibility to prevent poverty, mitigate its effects and eliminate its root causes;

22.

underlines the need to address the multidimensional aspects of poverty from all relevant policy areas and to provide a robust, coordinated policy response, as part of an integrated Anti-Poverty Strategy;

23.

stresses that local and regional authorities can contribute to better understanding poverty by organising local poverty audits (4); this work should be supported by national statistics and EU-based guidance to ensure comparability and quality;

24.

stresses the urgent need to integrate environmental sustainability, climate justice and a fair transition into anti-poverty policies, recognising that vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by the impacts of ecological crises and energy price volatility and related cost pressures, and that the green transition policies must prioritise social equity to avoid exacerbating or deepening poverty and exclusion;

25.

acknowledges the role of civil society organisations, not-for-profit social service providers and social economy enterprises in fighting poverty and addressing its root causes;

26.

recalls that data collection is crucial for the effectiveness of public policies; welcomes the social convergence framework to monitor social inclusion in Member States and identify country specific challenges and relevant policy answers. It is also important to include local and regional indicators in the monitoring framework to capture variations within Member States;

27.

recommends the more effective monitoring of poverty across the EU by the European Commission, including progress in reaching the Strategy objectives by using the data available more efficiently and by collecting more granular and timely data as part of the social scoreboard; it should be possible to break this data down at regional and local level to ensure that the strategy’s objectives also make sense in practice;

EU progress in fighting poverty

28.

acknowledges the anti-poverty milestones the EU has set with the Directive on adequate minimum wages, the Council recommendation on adequate minimum income, the Child Guarantee, the set-up of the European platform on combatting homelessness, the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and the Social Economy Action Plan;

29.

stresses that further efforts to address poverty are urgently needed and welcomes the announcement by the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President, Roxanna Mînzatu, of the first ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, to be presented in the first quarter of 2026;

30.

calls for the Strategy to be ambitious and realistic, and align the EU’s objectives in terms of poverty reduction with its UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals’ commitment and the Lisbon Declaration to eradicate homelessness across the EU by 2030;

31.

notes that the persistence of poverty contradicts the EU Treaty objective of the wellbeing of its people (Article 3 TEU);

32.

is concerned that the EU failed to meet its Europe 2020 25 % poverty reduction target and is on course to missing the 2021 European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan objective of reducing poverty by 15 million people by 2030, including 5 million children, and the target of eradicating homelessness by 2030; therefore considers it important for the future strategy to include concrete milestones for different levels of government;

33.

stresses that only around 1,6 million people only came out of poverty between 2019 and 2023;

34.

shares the assessment of the Commission (5) that significant challenges remain, particularly in addressing child poverty, and calls on the Commission to adopt a strategy that goes beyond merely alleviating child poverty and focuses on truly eradicating it through concrete measures and sufficient resources; the strategy for combating child poverty must include the necessary funds to implement, maintain and extend these measures, and must reach families in the most vulnerable situations in a way that is truly effective. It must be backed by political commitment and effective coordination between all administrations at local, regional, national and European levels;

35.

recommends the European Commission come up with the most ambitious, realistic and impactful EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, based on the rights acknowledged in EU treaties, the Pillar of Social Rights and international instruments;

36.

calls on the Commission to involve people experiencing poverty, and the civil society organisations working with them, in the preparation of and follow-up to the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy; also considers it important to include municipalities and regions, which have operational responsibility for many social services;

Higher EU ambitions

37.

calls on the European Union to step-up its efforts in fighting poverty, with a view to surpassing the 15 million people reduction target set in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan by 2030 and to meeting the UN SDGs target of eradicating extreme poverty for all people and reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions by 2030;

38.

calls on the new 2025 European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan to strengthen the poverty target, and set additional objectives in terms of housing, including homelessness and quality jobs. These objectives should be developed in consultation with local and regional authorities, which are often responsible for housing and labour market interventions;

39.

supports the European Parliament’s and the Lisbon Declaration’s call to eradicate homelessness by 2030;

40.

underlines the role of Member States’ welfare systems in delivering and implementing the future EU Anti-Poverty Strategy; calls for their financing to be safeguarded;

41.

reiterates its call for the European Commission to propose specific objectives for reducing energy poverty by 2030 and eradicating it by 2050 (6);

42.

highlights the need for the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy to prioritise active inclusion through access to quality, targeted education, training, and employment opportunities, as well as the exercise of political rights; underlines that such an approach enables individuals, especially those most disadvantaged, to fully participate in society and the labour market, fostering sustainable pathways out of poverty;

43.

stresses the importance of fair access to social services, healthcare and economic opportunities in combatting poverty, and underlines that the success of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy will depend on its ability to strengthen social protection and healthcare systems, improve minimum income schemes and tackle in-work poverty;

44.

stresses the importance of ensuring access to arts, culture, sports and leisure activities for people living in poverty as part of creating inclusive conditions that empower them to develop their potential and build both their own and collective prosperity;

45.

calls for further effort towards the adoption of the 2008 equal treatment directive;

46.

calls on the EU and all its Member States to join and ratify the Council of Europe’s revised European Social Charter;

More coordinated EU action

47.

calls for the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy to ensure alignment with and between the European Child Guarantee, the European Care Strategy, the Council Recommendations on early childhood, education and care, the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, the upcoming EU Affordable Housing Plan, the revised Action Plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights, and the anti-poverty targets of the Roma Strategic Framework 2021-2030, so that all initiatives contribute to the overall objective the EU has set itself for poverty reduction. It is crucial for this coordination also to take place at the level responsible for implementation, with local and regional stakeholders playing key roles in several of the aforementioned initiatives;

48.

suggest a ‘poverty check’ be done as part of the impact assessment of any EU policy with criteria aligned with the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR);

49.

calls on the European Commission to apply a local dimension to poverty indicators at NUTS 3 level to accurately identify areas with intensive rates of poverty, particularly in peri-urban and rural areas under pressure, and to adapt policy responses and funding to local circumstances;

50.

recommends ensuring the implementation and monitoring of the EU Anti-Poverty strategy using the Child Guarantee methodology and by appointing an EU Anti-Poverty coordinator within the European Commission;

51.

calls on Member States to prepare national action plans and nominate national coordinators for the implementation of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, with local and regional authorities closely involved in the process from design to implementation;

52.

suggests that national poverty action plans focus on measures to achieve fair wages, particularly for women, and decent work, the development of minimum income schemes, access to individualised social services and quality basic services (7);

53.

suggests building on the work done within the Social Convergence Framework to strengthen its influence on the European Semester with stronger social and poverty reduction targets in the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs). CSRs should also take account of regional disparities concerning poverty and include regional indicators where relevant;

54.

recommends the development of an EU Action Plan for social services;

55.

stresses that the primary responsibility for addressing poverty rests with the Member States, with some having adopted national anti-poverty strategies;

Local and regional authorities fight poverty

56.

recalls nevertheless that local and regional authorities are at the forefront of fighting poverty, providing essential public services, including social welfare, support for at-risk children and people with disabilities, affordable housing, job creation and childcare support, and ensuring that EU strategies translate into action at the local and regional level;

57.

reminds the importance of the principle of subsidiarity for EU policies to have effective impact on the ground, and the need to closely associate local and regional authorities to the shaping of the policies they will have to implement;

58.

underlines that, as the level of government closest to citizens, they identify the specific needs of individuals to develop personalised, people-centred pathways towards active inclusion (8);

59.

underlines disparities in regional poverty levels and stresses the need for targeted interventions at the local and regional levels, particularly in lagging and structurally disadvantaged territories such as mountain regions, outermost areas and post-industrial zones, where poverty risks are exacerbated by limited infrastructure and access to services;

60.

stresses that poverty is a challenge for cities, suburbs and rural areas; is concerned that peripheral and outermost areas often face even higher rates of poverty and social exclusion;

61.

further underlines that mountain regions and less developed areas face specific structural disadvantages, including geographic isolation, demographic decline and limited access to essential services. The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy should include targeted measures and investment to ensure that people living in these territories are not left behind;

62.

stresses that the success of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy depends on the engagement of local and regional authorities and on their access to long-term funding and adaptable instruments;

63.

stresses the importance of avoiding concentration of poverty and inter-generational reproduction of inequalities in certain territories characterised by significant socio-economic vulnerability; recommends that integrated policies be put in place to strengthen social and territorial diversity, in particular through urban planning, education, housing, mobility and access to employment;

64.

recommends that local and regional authorities adopt anti-poverty plans and targeted policies for specific groups to address poverty and its causes through their diverse nature;

65.

notes that this would require additional EU funding being made available to local and regional authorities, and access to funds being made easier by reducing red tape and increasing flexibility;

66.

therefore, emphasises the need to provide adequate resources for local and regional authorities to effectively deliver on European objectives, ensuring they have the financial capacity to implement anti-poverty measures, public services and targeted interventions that contribute to the overall success of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy;

67.

recommends that local and regional authorities make use of social conditionalities and criteria other than price in public procurement procedures;

68.

recommends local and regional authorities make use of a differentiated pricing on the basis of social criteria to ensure access for all to essential public services that are not free, such as school restaurants; calls on this differentiated pricing to reflect the means available to each in order to both guarantee access for lowest income families and to a higher contribution for the highest income households;

69.

invites local and regional authorities to nominate a regional anti-poverty coordinator;

70.

invites the European Commission to set-up a platform (9) where local and regional authorities will find information, share experiences and best practices, and receive technical assistance to prepare their local anti-poverty plans;

71.

stresses that the action of non-governmental organisations, not-for-profit social service providers, and social economy enterprises can usefully complement local public services; that they support the identification of innovative practices in providing social support;

72.

commits to facilitating targeted, cost-effective exchanges with anti-poverty organisations, primarily by leveraging existing CoR fora and events (including digital formats), giving visibility to the best local and regional policies with demonstrated results, with a view to their potential upscaling as part of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy where appropriate and evidence-based;

Resources to live in dignity

73.

recalls principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights stating that ‘Everyone lacking sufficient resources has the right to adequate minimum income benefits ensuring a life in dignity […]’;

74.

recalls that national income support schemes and related support services provide a bottom line for ensuring people can live in dignity;

75.

acknowledges that a significant part of people experiencing poverty is temporarily or permanently unable to work enough to make a living;

76.

observes that, in many Member States, targeted benefits prevent people from falling into poverty (10);

77.

notes that child benefits are often essential support for families on low incomes and that income transfer systems reduce child poverty by 42,4 % on average in European countries (11);

78.

recalls the need for adequate legislation to guarantee a minimum income at least above the poverty threshold that keeps up with inflation and the cost of living (12). The design and implementation should take account of regional differences in the cost of living and should take place in dialogue with local and regional authorities;

79.

reiterates the recommendations made in CDR-5495-2022:

—	to set-up an updated European benchmarking framework for minimum income schemes;

—	to support an annual review of minimum income schemes at Member State level;

—	to ensure that means-testing thresholds be set in such a way that people, especially the elderly, are not excluded from minimum income support;

—	to bring forward the timetable for implementing the Council Recommendation on adequate minimum income to 2027;

80.

calls on the European Commission to prepare a directive on adequate minimum income with minimum standards for coverage, accessibility, in particular for young people, adequacy and automatic adjustments to living costs;

81.

encourages Member States and local and regional authorities to put schemes in place to automatically allocate social assistance based on the interconnection of administrative data. This principle of solidarity at the source would make it possible to effectively address the non-use of social rights and guarantee that people in precarious situations receive the support they are entitled to without any additional steps;

In-work poverty

82.

recalls that the risk of poverty increases drastically for unemployed individuals (66,3 %), but is also an issue for people in employment (11,3 %) or self-employed (23,6 %) and small business owners;

83.

stresses the importance of skills and training as preconditions for employment; recalls that once employed, training and life-long learning schemes are essential for the resilience and successful professional transitions of workers;

84.

calls for the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy to support enhanced accessibility of in and out of work training schemes both for people experiencing poverty and in order to prevent it;

85.

observes that work does not prevent poverty, that in-work poverty is rising and concerns a significant number of workers in the EU (at least one out of 10);

86.

observes that involuntary part-time work and low work intensity are sources of in-work poverty, which often affect sectors where women and migrant workers are overrepresented;

87.

recalls that workers are at risk of in-work poverty when their equivalised yearly disposable income is below 60 % of the national household median income level;

88.

recalls its support to local job guarantees and initiatives for the long-term unemployed and the call made in its 2022 opinion for the Commission to set up an ad hoc European Job Guarantee fund of EUR 750 million over five years to combat long-term unemployment (13);

89.

underlines that the 60 % of national household median income threshold serves as a reference in the EU Directive on adequate minimum wages, calls for the swift and proper implementation of the directive across the EU;

90.

stresses that the regularisation of undeclared workers contributes to tackling in-work poverty, and that the regularisation of migrant workers can sustain economic growth;

91.

recalls the success of the Youth guarantee in helping young people and NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) enter the labour market; calls for its further expansion;

92.

stresses the importance of strengthening mechanisms to combat undeclared work to prevent abuse, protect workers’ rights, combat unfair competition between companies and ensure that regularisation policies are effective;

93.

calls for the swift adoption of the Directive on traineeships, to guarantee the quality of internships and ban exploitative practices (14);

94.

calls on the swift implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive and for further action to address the gender pay and pension gaps; calls for further investment in early childcare, such as improved availability, affordability and accessibility of childcare and long-term care facilities, as well as measures that foster work-life balance to support single parents’ access to employment;

95.

calls for the full implementation of the 2019 Council recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed and calls for Council Recommendations on universal and free access to social protection and essential services in the EU. It is crucial for this also to cover regional variations in access to welfare services, and for local and regional authorities to be given the tools they need to meet the needs of different population groups. The Committee calls for Member States and local and regional authorities to ensure and improve access to essential services for all, without discrimination on grounds of age, ethnic background, or residence conditions;

96.

calls on the future EU Quality Jobs roadmap to tackle in-work poverty, involuntary or imposed part-time work and precarious contracts, and ensure decent working conditions and that fair wages for employment remain a way out of poverty;

97.

calls on the European Commission to include an in-work poverty reduction sub-target as part of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan;

Child poverty

98.

welcomes the fact that all Member States have submitted their National Action Plans on the EU Child Guarantee and calls on their full implementation;

99.

recalls that it has urged allocating sufficient resources to support the European Child Guarantee, and highlights the positive effects of financially supporting families with children to tackle child poverty and break the intergenerational cycle of poverty;

100.

reiterates its recommendations from CDR-0219-2024 and CDR-2601-2021 that:

—	all Member States should allocate at least 5 % of their ESF+ funds to targeted measures and structural reforms to combat child poverty;

—	that this is a minimum requirement and that Member States are encouraged to use a higher percentage of the ESF+ for this purpose;

—	that, according to the current ESF+ Regulation, the financing rate for support for the most deprived people must be 90 %;

—	the Commission and the Member States should ensure that the EU strategy on the rights of the child is appropriately financed, ensuring that both EU funding and national budgets adequately support its implementation;

101.

calls for increasing EU funding for the Child Guarantee in the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework and for increasing the 5 % earmarking in the post 2027 ESF+. In the event of an increase, consideration should also be given to how the local and regional level, which is often responsible for child rights issues, is given a clearer role in the funding model;

Housing

102.

welcomes the announced doubling of the EU funding made available to support housing projects across the Union;

103.

calls on the Commission’s EU Affordable housing plan to address homelessness, including rehousing and prevention, and a focus on social housing;

104.

calls on the Council to follow-up on the Belgian Presidency’s initiative to prepare a Council Recommendation on ending homelessness;

105.

calls on Member States to further invest in social housing and ensure access to housing for all, particularly for single-parent households and families in need;

106.

calls on the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy to address homelessness, including its gender and intersectional dimensions, and contribute to the target of eradicating homelessness by 2030;

107.

stresses the need for local and regional authorities to implement housing access policies that take into account the vulnerability of single-parent families, especially single mothers; recommends that this criterion be included in social housing allocation schemes to combat poverty and social exclusion of women and children;

108.

calls on the European Commission to further develop and strengthen the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness;

109.

acknowledges the housing first principle as a best practice in fighting homelessness; stresses its success (15);

110.

calls for the reallocation of uncommitted structural funds from Member States to combat homelessness under the current Multiannual Financial Framework;

111.

recalls that improving energy efficiency is one of the main areas of work for local and regional authorities (16). The Anti-Poverty Strategy should support this by providing technical and financial support targeted at local and regional public housing companies, as well as people on low incomes;

112.

calls for the provision of direct financial support to renovate homes, ensuring that upfront costs do not create a barrier for the most vulnerable households;

113.

calls on the inclusion of social safeguards in the EU Emission Trading System to ensure carbon pricing does not disproportionately affect low-income households, or to compensate this impact through the Social Climate Fund (17);

Non-take-up and barriers in accessing social benefits and services

114.

highlights the challenge of the non-take-up of existing social benefits and services, which can be defined as a non-receipt of benefits by people who are entitled to them;

115.

underlines that, beyond its individual consequences, non-take-up threatens the effectiveness of social protection and the efficiency of public action;

116.

stresses that the organisation of public services has a strong impact on the take-up of benefits and services, that inconsistencies and contradictory demands between different services can deter access to social benefits or services for people entitled to them and even turn into institutional mistreatment;

117.

calls for national, local and regional-targeted measures to address the non-take-up of social benefits, minimum income schemes and social services, such as:

—	ensuring online and offline access to essential services and benefits to prevent digitalisation becoming an obstacle, investing to increase digital literacy as well as digital access;

—	the creation or extension of low threshold social services that enable the introduction of requests for different social benefits in a single place, with the support of social counsellors (18);

—	the automatic payment of social benefits based on the data available to public services (19); promoting local contact centres and cooperation models between the local level and social security bodies as hubs for access to support;

118.

calls for Member States and local and regional authorities to carefully consider the risks of surveillance and discrimination against people experiencing poverty when developing data-driven welfare policies;

119.

calls for ensuring adequate funding of social protection systems and a social investment approach that enables Member States to exclude this funding, as well as investment in public and social housing, from the excessive deficit procedure of the Stability and Growth Pact;

Ensuring the Strategy has the means needed to achieve its ambitions

120.

recalls that fighting poverty is an investment, not a cost;

121.

recommends that the allocation of EU cohesion and social funds prioritise areas with persistent structural challenges, including mountainous and sparsely populated regions. These areas require increased territorial investment to address chronic underdevelopment and ensure equal access to opportunities and services;

122.

encourages the European Commission to mobilise resources beyond the ESF+, from its climate, anti-discrimination, integration and cohesion funds, to support the fight against poverty;

123.

calls on the European Commission to ensure that, similar to the 25 % earmarking for social inclusion within the ESF+, a significant part of these funds be earmarked and effectively used to support local poverty reduction initiatives;

124.

calls on the European Commission and Member States to pay particular attention to ensuring funding for the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and to meet its objectives when designing and adopting the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework while stepping up the level of Cohesion policy funding;

125.

calls for a greater proportion of EU funds to be allocated to social investment and cohesion policies that support the most marginalised and vulnerable in the EU;

126.

calls on the Commission to increase the earmarking for severe material deprivation and accompanying measures in the European Social Fund+ from 3 to 10 %;

127.

encourages Member States to prioritise the protection of public services, social benefits, social spending and public investment, protecting those most at risk of poverty and social exclusion from the negative impact of cuts;

128.

invites the Commission to condition access to EU funding earmarked for fighting poverty to the adoption of both national and local anti-poverty plans, building on the current enabling conditions currently for the ESF+.

Brussels, 14 October 2025.

The President

of the European Committee of the Regions

Kata TÜTTŐ

(1) Nelson Mandela, Live Aid concert in Johannesburg, South Africa 2 July 2005.

(2) CDR-5429-2022.

(3) CDR-3141-2017.

(4) As done by the City of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Belgium, Report on Child Poverty Eradication.

(5) Employment and social developments in Europe 2024.

(6) CDR-5877-2018.

(7) CDR-5495-2022.

(8) CDR-5495-2022.

(9) Similar to EPOCH.

(10) It may be housing allowances (APL in France), old age benefits (GRAPA in Belgium), subsidy of meals at school (Finland), school allowances or student allowances (Denmark).

(11) https://www.unicef.be/sites/default/files/2023-12/InnocentiReportCard_18_Embargoed.pdf.

(12) COR 166/2011.

(13) CDR-5490-2022.

(14) CDR-1795-2024, https://cor.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions/cdr-1795-2024.

(15) Reduction of homelessness by 76 % from 2008 to 2017 in Finland and it worked too in Brno and Ostrava, Czech Republic.

(16) CDR-5877-2018.

(17) CDR-4801-2021.

(18) Such as the ‘staircase to staircase’ project in Gellerup Aarhus, Denmark, or the Maisons Départementales des Solidarités in France.

(19) Such as the Estonian ‘Family benefit e-service’.