This achievement is important because it shows that, even at a time when politics is dominated by talk of mere competitiveness and security, the European Parliament can still choose a different path: one that considers poverty a violation of human dignity and human rights and recognises the need for coordinated and holistic solutions involving all levels of governance and civil society.
For the Alliance and its members, this also represents a milestone in their advocacy work. Through constant engagement with stakeholders in the European Parliament, we have helped to secure a strong chapter on child protection and child poverty.
The main result is the Parliament’s request to allocate a specific budget of at least €20 billion to the European Child Guarantee in the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034 (European budget), implemented through the European Social Fund+. This is accompanied by a strengthened commitment for Member States to allocate at least 5% of the ESF+ to structural projects and investments aimed at combating child poverty, with at least 10% allocated to Member States where child poverty and social exclusion exceed the EU average. This is exactly the ambition we called for:predictable, ring-fenced, and multiannual resources that match the reality of a crisis affecting around one in four children in the EU.
Fundamentally, Parliament’s appeal also recognises that the Child Guarantee is already working and delivering results. National action plans, ESF+ investments, biennial reporting and coordinated implementation have expanded school meal programmes, strengthened inclusion measures and supported new models of social innovation that would not exist without this European framework. The report highlights the clear commitment to prevention and child welfare in all essential services: the quality of early childhood education and care through adequate financial and human resources, after-school care and the fight against early school leaving, calling for a strengthening of staff training and early warning systems. Such early and preventive investments are not “optional social spending”, but the most effective way to reduce inequalities throughout life and break the vicious cycle of poverty.
The report also advocates a child- and youth-centred approach to social protection, including targeted benefits and practical measures such as family allowances, school meals and cost reduction programmes for cultural, sporting, recreational and extracurricular activities. This is in line with our call for welfare systems that prevent deprivation, support families and reduce long-term social costs.
Equally important is Parliament’s strong focus on prevention and child protection: it calls for every child’s right to family life to be guaranteed, for poverty not to be used as the sole reason for institutionalisation, and for investment in family and community care, including safe foster care systems. The report condemns violence, abuse, exploitation and abandonment and calls for investment in integrated child protection systems, including combating online bullying and violence, which disproportionately affect children in vulnerable situations.
Finally, the report reiterates what has long been argued: that ending poverty requires a coordinated and holistic approach involving Member States, local and regional authorities, social partners and civil society. This parliamentary victory must now be translated into decisive action by the European Commission, which is preparing to strengthen the European Child Guarantee.
Read the statement of the Alliance for Investing in Children.
