Child poverty has fallen in the previous decade across the European Union, but in Poland the decline has been particularly spectacular. In Eurostat’s ranking of the number of children at risk of poverty, Poland moved from 22nd to second place.

According to Eurostat, the percentage of children at risk of poverty and social exclusion fell across the Union from over 25 % in 2008 to 21.7 % in 2020. In contrast, the proportion of children living in households with very low incomes decreased from 19.9 % in 2010 to 17.7% in 2021. The data was collected by the authors of the report Analysis of the Child Guarantee National Action Plans.

Countries that have seen an impressive decrease in the percentage of children in a poor material situation include Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Poland.

In Poland, between 2009 and 2020, the percentage of children at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder decreased from 30.3 % to 6.2 %. In Bulgaria, there was a decrease from 60 % to 30 %, in Romania from almost 65 % to 36 %, in Hungary from 46 % to 25 % and in Latvia from 42 % to 14 %.

At the other extreme is Greece. It is the only country to record a large increase in the number of children affected by so-called material and social deprivation. The report shows that as many as 37 % of Greek children are affected with it, compared to 24 % 12 years earlier.

In Germany, the percentage rose from 14.6 % in 2009 to 15.2 % in 2020. While the reported increase is small, the continued level of the percentage of children growing up in very low-income families is high. The report notes that the worse outcome in the country may be due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spain has maintained its results at an almost unchanged but high level for 12 years. In this country, the proportion of children living in homes with a low economic and social status is 18.6 %.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński