European Social Fund+ to tackle child poverty

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a landmark deal on the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) at the end of January.

EU Member States with an average of EU child poverty higher than the 2017-2019 EU average (23,4%) will now have to allocate at least 5% of their ESF+ financial resources to tackle child poverty. The agreement also calls on all EU Member States to allocate ESF+ financial resources to targeted actions to combat child poverty.

Caritas Europa, with the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, issues this statement today to welcome this milestone agreement that champions children’s rights, and to call for some of the actions needed to fully capitalise on it.