In 2018, according to the data recently published by Eurostat, 23.4% of children in the European Union were endangered by poverty or social exclusion. Slovenia topped the ranking with a score of 13.1, and Czech Republic ranked close behind it (13.2%). Poland ranked sixth – according to Eurostat, 17.2% of children in our country were endangered by poverty or social exclusion in 2018. Romania closed the ranking with an infamous score of 38.1%.

‘We should make every effort to decrease this index even further in the next years. It is worth noting, however, that only a few years earlier, in 2010, things looked quite different. With a score of 30.8%, Poland ranked below the EU average, which was 27.3% at that time. This shows that a wise social and family policy brings results,’ says the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy Marlena Maląg.

According to the Eurostat data, children are the group most endangered by poverty and social exclusion in the European Union. This index was 22.1% among adults (18–64) and 18.4% among elderly persons (65+).

The largest differences between poverty or social exclusion risk indexes for children and for the total population were recorded in France, Romania and Slovakia – over 5 percentage points higher for children than for the total population. The largest differences in the reverse direction occurred in Latvia (-5.9 ppts) and in Estonia (-6.5 ppts).