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Citizens often turn to the European Parliament to ask how the European Union deals with combating poverty and social exclusion

In 2023, according to Eurostat, around 20 % of the European Union (EU) population, and 25 % of children in the EU, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Although fighting poverty and social exclusion are among the EU’s specific objectives, social policy is primarily a responsibility of EU countries. The European Union only plays a coordinating and supporting role.

In 2017, the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission announced the European Pillar of Social Rights, a strategy to move towards a strong, social Europe that is fair and inclusive. Under the Pillar’s 2021 action plan, the EU wants to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030.

EU funds to fight poverty and social exclusion European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) for 2021 to 2027 has a €142 billion to support the EU’s employment, social, education and skills policies.

EU countries must dedicate at least 25 % of ESF+ funding to social inclusion: supporting people at risk of poverty, non-EU citizens and marginalised communities, such as Roma people. The ESF+ also aims to improve access to essential services, including housing and healthcare, and to combat social exclusion, particularly of children.

In March 2025, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the post-2027 ESF+:

• calling for increased ESF+ funding to strengthen the EU’s social policies;
• emphasising the need to reinforce the ESF+ to support vulnerable people, invest in skills, combat poverty, and boost social investment and entrepreneurship;
• warning against splitting or merging the ESF+ with other funds, as this could weaken its ability to achieve its objectives and those of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Other EU funds

To mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the EU set up the temporary Recovery and Resilience Facility until 2026. Two of the six pillars set out in the instrument contribute to tackling poverty and social exclusion: the pillar on social and territorial cohesion and the pillar on policies for the next generation, children and youth.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has adopted swift changes to its funds to assist EU countries in welcoming people fleeing Ukraine and in supporting their integration. In October 2022, the EU adopted a law to allow for the provision of immediate assistance to displaced persons, including those fleeing conflict, through rapid access to healthcare and other essential services.

Minimum wages

In 2022, the EU adopted rules on adequate minimum wages across the European Union. They seek to establish a framework for EU countries to ensure that workers receive a fair minimum wage that provides a decent standard of living. However, these rules do not oblige EU countries to introduce minimum wages by law, nor do they set a common minimum wage level across the EU. The EU countries had until 2024 to take measures to:

• adopt national strategies for setting and updating minimum wages, where minimum wages are set by law, that take into account factors like purchasing power, cost of living, and collective bargaining coverage;
• promote collective bargaining on wages;
• improve monitoring and enforcement of minimum wage protection.

European Parliament’s position

The European Parliament has consistently expressed its strong commitment to combating poverty and social exclusion across Europe.

Women’s poverty: In a 2022 resolution, the European Parliament stressed that women are disproportionately, and often involuntarily, employed in precarious work. It underlined the crucial role of high-quality public services in combating women’s poverty. It also urged the EU and its member countries to take gender into account when defining policies to address homelessness. 

Children’s rights: In a 2021 resolution, the European Parliament asked EU countries to establish national strategies for tackling child poverty and social exclusion.

In-work poverty: In a 2021 resolution, Parliament recalled that preventing and tackling in-work poverty must be part of the overall goal to eradicate poverty in the EU.

Roma inclusion: In October 2022, Parliament addressed the need to tackle antigypsyism in all areas of society through effective legislative and policy measures. It called to increase Roma participation, especially from under-represented groups, when creating and implementing these measures.

Decent and affordable housing for all: In a 2021 resolution, the European Parliament called on the Commission and EU countries to make sure that the right to adequate housing is recognised as a fundamental human right that is legally guaranteed. It also called on them to ensure that public money is not used to support housing projects that might lead to segregation or social exclusion. In a 2020 resolution on homelessness in the EU, Parliament stressed that access to emergency shelters should only be temporary and is not an alternative to structural solutions such as prevention and the provision of adequate housing and social support.

In 2025, Parliament set up a special committee on the housing crisis in the EU. The committee will investigate the root causes of the housing crisis and propose practical solutions at European level.

Energy poverty: In October 2022, Parliament urged EU countries to ensure people could afford to heat their homes and to avoid evictions of vulnerable households unable to pay their energy bills. It highlighted that many people were already in vulnerable situations before the crisis, and warned that inflation could make the situation unbearable for low-income households, with the middle class also being increasingly affected.

Further information

• A coordinated EU approach to housing, Briefing, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), January 2025
• EU contribution to the fight against child poverty, At a glance, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), October 2024
• Roma in 10 European Countries – Main results, Report, EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), October 2022
• The fight against poverty, social exclusion and discrimination, Fact Sheet on the European Union, European Parliament, August 2022
• European Social Fund Plus (2021-2027), At a glance, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), June 2021
• Social protection and social inclusion, European Commission

Keep sending your questions to the Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (Ask EP)! We reply in the EU language that you use to write to us.

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On Thursday, MEPs will host prominent Russian opposition voices for a discussion on EU support for Russia’s pro-democracy forces in the new geopolitical context.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

On Thursday, MEPs will host prominent Russian opposition voices for a discussion on EU support for Russia’s pro-democracy forces in the new geopolitical context.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

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European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola, and political group leaders will visit Copenhagen on Tuesday to prepare the upcoming Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola, and political group leaders will visit Copenhagen on Tuesday to prepare the upcoming Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

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