“Child poverty is a significant structural challenge that undermines upward social convergence and future competitiveness. More than one in three children are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.” Brussels confirms this harsh reality in its report on Spain for the European Semester, published yesterday. Eurostat data indeed shows the rate reaching 34%, and furthermore, no other Eurozone country surpasses the Spanish figure. The second is Greece, with a figure of 28%. If the analysis is extended to the entire European Union, the Spanish rate is the second worst, only behind Bulgaria, which reaches 35.1%.
“Child poverty continues to worsen, with more than one in three children affected and certain groups more severely impacted. After an increase between 2018 and 2021, the AROPE rate for children decreased by 0.8 percentage points in 2022, before rising again to 34.6% in 2024,” the Commission notes.
Yesterday, the XV Annual Report ‘The State of Poverty,’ prepared by the Network to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion in the Spanish State (EAPN-ES), was also released. According to this report, up to 4.1 million people live in households with incomes below 644 euros per month per consumption unit. The Network expresses particular concern about the “alarming” rate of child poverty in Spain, the highest in the EU, with 2.3 million poor children and adolescents.
According to the report, poverty is entrenched in Spain, where 12.5 million people suffer deprivation, with 4.1 million experiencing very severe deprivation.
