A new chapter in the Child Guarantee
When we invest in parents, we invest in every child they raise

The European Commission has published a new Communication on Breaking the cycle of child poverty: Strengthening the European Child Guarantee — alongside its first ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy.

Together, these initiatives signal an important shift in Europe’s approach to child poverty: recognising that children’s wellbeing cannot be separated from the wellbeing of their families.

The numbers demand urgency

One in four children in the EU is at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Progress toward the EU’s 2030 target of lifting at least 5 million children out of poverty has stalled.

The cost of inaction is enormous. Child poverty and its long-term consequences are estimated to cost Europe 3.4% of GDP every year. And children who grow up in poverty are almost twice as likely to experience poverty as adults.

Without stronger action, disadvantage will continue to pass from one generation to the next.

What the Child Guarantee has achieved — and where gaps remain

Since its adoption in 2021, the Child Guarantee has delivered important progress.

Participation in early childhood education and care among children experiencing poverty has increased. School meal programmes have expanded in several Member States. More than 850,000 additional children — most of them at risk of poverty — now have access to school-based activities.

But major gaps remain.

Many of the most vulnerable children are still not being reached. Services remain fragmented, poorly coordinated, and insufficiently funded. One-off interventions rarely produce lasting change. At the same time, rising mental health pressures, online safety risks, and difficult transitions into adulthood require a far more integrated response.

Families are the foundation

We strongly welcome the renewed focus on supporting families as the foundation for preventing child poverty and social exclusion. The persistently high levels of child poverty confirm what we defended and advocated long before the adoption of the Child Guarantee: children’s rights cannot be realised in isolation. They are realised within families. Children remain among the groups most exposed to poverty in our societies. Policies that claim to “put children first” while overlooking the realities facing parents have repeatedly failed to deliver lasting results. The evidence is clear.

When parents lack adequate income, time, support, or access to services, children are affected directly.

We particularly welcome the explicit recognition of mothers — not only single mothers — as a group facing heightened risks of poverty and social exclusion due to the unequal distribution of care responsibilities.

For many low-income parents, and especially mothers, access to stable and quality employment remains constrained by unpaid caregiving, limited access to affordable childcare, and persistent inequalities in work–life balance.

Recognising these structural barriers is essential to building more effective and inclusive anti-poverty policies.

MMM welcomes the initiative to support the activation of persons excluded from the labour market and equality between women and men with regard to labour market opportunities. At the same time, poverty cannot be solved through employment alone. Minimum income support, strong safety nets, and accessible services must sit alongside — not behind — labour market measures as core tools in the fight against child and family poverty.

Family support must therefore be understood not as a secondary measure, but as a social and economic investment.

Parents — and particularly mothers — are the primary caregivers during the earliest years of life. They need adequate time, resources, and support to provide responsive care and foster healthy development. Ensuring they can do so is essential not only for children’s well-being, but for creating the conditions in which all children can thrive.

When we invest in parents, we invest in every child they raise.

We therefore welcome this new phase in the implementation of the Child Guarantee and believe it represents an important step toward ending child and family poverty in Europe.

Removing the barriers that keep parents out of work

Quality employment remains one of the most effective protections against poverty. If employment rates reached national targets, an estimated 1.7 million children could be lifted out of poverty.

Yet many parents — particularly mothers — remain excluded from the labour market because of care responsibilities. Today, 75% of mothers with young children cite family and caregiving obligations as the main reason for not working.

One of the most significant barriers is the “childcare gap”: the period between the end of parental leave and the moment children can access affordable early childhood education and care. In some Member States, this gap lasts several years.

Closing this gap is essential. So too are flexible working arrangements and tax and benefit systems that support, rather than penalise, families with children.

Strong safety nets — and support that goes beyond income

Income support plays a critical role in reducing child poverty.

Across the EU, child and family benefits reduce child poverty by an average of 10.6 percentage points. But the effectiveness of these systems vary dramatically between Member States. In some countries, the poorest families receive less support in absolute terms than wealthier households. That is a design failure that must be addressed.

But effective support goes beyond income alone. Families also need access to parenting support, debt counselling, financial guidance and peer networks that help restore stability and dignity.

Mental health and maternal health must not be overlooked

Mental health pressures among children are increasing — and children experiencing poverty are often the most affected.

The strengthened Child Guarantee must therefore include accessible and integrated mental health services for children and families.

We would also have welcomed a stronger focus on maternal health — both physical and mental — within the framework of universal access to healthcare.

The evidence is unequivocal: a mother’s health directly influences her child’s development from pregnancy onwards. Effective local initiatives already exist across Europe. The next step is scaling them up.

Governance, funding, and accountability

Breaking the cycle of child poverty requires more than political declarations. It requires sustained investment, stronger governance, and meaningful accountability. National action plans must be strengthened, regularly reviewed, and backed by dedicated funding and measurable targets.

The EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028 – 2034 identifies child poverty and the Child Guarantee as key social investment priorities. That commitment must translate into real support reaching the families who need it most.

Our commitment

We welcome this new chapter for the Child Guarantee and the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy. Together, they point toward a Europe where no child’s future is determined by the circumstances into which they are born.

But strategies alone do not change lives. Implementation does.

Parents — and especially mothers — must be recognised not simply as beneficiaries of policy, but as essential actors in the fight against child poverty.

Without supported, resourced, and respected parents, Europe will not end child poverty.

We remain committed to working alongside EU institutions, national coordinators, civil society organisations, and families themselves to help make that ambition a reality.

Read our contribution to the EU consultation here
Read the EU Communication on Strengthening the Child Guarantee here