The number of children at risk of poverty in the European Union has slightly grown.
Social PolicyEuropean Union
- Error detected
- The claim asserts the number of children at risk of poverty 'has slightly grown', whereas the most recent official data show a slight DECREASE: the child AROPE rate fell from 24.8% (2023) to 24.2% (2024) and the number of children at risk fell by 0.6% over the same period.
- Omissions
- The claim does not specify a reference period. The most recent official data (2024 for the child-specific indicator, 2025 for the overall AROPE population) show a slight decrease; however, over a longer horizon (e.g. since 2019/2021) child poverty in the EU has been volatile and at times higher, so a longer-term comparison could partially support a 'growth' narrative.
- The MEP's wording 'at risk of poverty' is narrower than the headline Eurostat indicator 'at risk of poverty or social exclusion' (AROPE) used in the sources; AROP (monetary poverty alone) figures for children were not located.
- The child-specific Eurostat article had its last data extraction on 7 May 2025 (2024 reference year); the 2025 child-specific breakdown was not yet published at the session date, so the latest children figure the MEP could have known was 2024.
- Sources
- PrimaryEurostat — Statistics Explained: Children at risk of poverty or social exclusionBetween 2023 and 2024, the percentage of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU slightly decreased from 24.8% to 24.2%. In 2024, 24.2% of children aged less than 18 in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion compared with 20.3% of people aged 18 years and over.
- PrimaryEurostat — News article: 20.9% of people at risk of poverty or social exclusionIn 2025, 92.7 million people in the EU (20.9% of the population) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion... Compared with 2024, the number of people at risk decreased by 600 000 persons (from 93.3 million or 21.0% of the population).
- SecondaryEuronews — Where are children more vulnerable to poverty in the EU?In 2024, 19.5 million children in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to the latest Eurostat figures... there was a small decrease of 0.6% in the number of children facing this risk in the EU from 2023 to 2024. Between 2023 and 2024, the percentage of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU slightly decreased from 24.8% to 24.2%.