Child Poverty - Eurochild’s achievements in 2025
Annual Report 2025.
In 2025, Eurochild continued to advocate strongly for the implementation of the European Child Guarantee at EU level, with more than 80 engagements with policymakers over the course of the year. We also mobilised civil society across our network and beyond, including through the Alliance for Investing in Children.
We tracked the development of National Action Plans and produced overviews of the biennial reports published by Member States. Based on this monitoring and analysis, and on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the Child Guarantee, Eurochild presented targeted recommendations to the European Commission and EU Member States to strengthen its implementation.
Eurochild’s work advanced several principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, reinforcing the EU’s commitment to breaking cycles of disadvantage and promoting equal opportunities. We have also contributed to shaping the second Action Plan of the Pillar.
Eurochild also played an important role in advocating for EU funding mechanisms, particularly the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), to prioritise children’s wellbeing, social inclusion and family support. Public policies and budgets have a direct impact on children’s lives, and together with our members, we continue to advocate for EU funds to drive improvements in child and family services.
In this context, Eurochild supported the peer learning event on the European Child Guarantee in Malta for ESF+ Managing Authorities. Through our work on the European Semester, we also ensured that children’s rights remain central to policymaking. A significant development was the inclusion of updates on the Child Guarantee in the 2025 Spring Package, something we have consistently called for. To contribute to the 2026 European Semester and to post-2027 funding priorities under National and Regional Partnership Plans, we prepared and shared one-pagers on key findings on children’s rights in EU Member States with the DG EMPL Semester Unit.
Eurochild also developed in-depth analyses and contributions to the Affordable Housing Strategy, whose adopted text includes some of our recommendations, and the Anti-Poverty Strategy, which will be published in 2026. Eurochild has actively mainstreamed children’s rights across all policy debates and engagements with EU institutions. Through sustained advocacy and participation in numerous high-level and strategic meetings, we contributed to shaping discussions that led to the adoption of the Anti-Poverty Strategy.
At a critical moment, ahead of the next Multiannual Financial Framework, Eurochild’s vision papers and reactions helped shape discussions on future EU funding priorities affecting children. Our analysis consistently emphasised the need for sustained, structural investment to eradicate child poverty and for stronger earmarking for children within EU funds. We also published a practical advocacy resource and toolkit to support civil society organisations in influencing national reforms and EU funding decisions, helping ensure that resources reach the children most in need.
Since 2023, Eurochild has articulated the case for extending the European Child Guarantee to enlargement countries. In 2025, this objective moved closer to reality, demonstrating the impact of coordinated advocacy with our members, and we supported its implementation in Ukraine by providing a training session to UNICEF Ukraine.
In 2025, Eurochild also strengthened the local dimension of its work on child poverty and children’s rights. This included influencing the Committee of the Regions’ Opinion on the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and organising a workshop with city representatives on implementing the European Child Guarantee.
Eurochild also actively contributed to the European Commission’s ECEC and Pathways to School Success Working Groups under the European Education Area. We brought civil society evidence on access, affordability and quality in early childhood education and care, and education, particularly for children experiencing poverty, Roma children, children with disabilities and children with a migrant background. In doing so, we stressed the importance of integrated services, adequate public investment and workforce capacity to ensure that all education systems are inclusive and reach children most at risk of exclusion, based on the findings from our members.
