Executive summary
KEY FINDINGS
- Progress has been uneven: early school leaving and housing cost overburden have declined, while child poverty remains high, unmet healthcare needs have increased and inequalities in ECEC persist.
- Formal entitlements do not ensure effective access where financial, territorial, capacity or administrative barriers remain.
- Children facing overlapping disadvantages require coordinated support across services.
- Effective implementation requires stronger coordination, sustainable financing, outcome-focused monitoring and children’s participation.
Background
The European Child Guarantee was adopted by the Council in 2021 to improve access to essential services for children in need, including ECEC, education, healthcare, nutrition and housing. In May 2026 the European Commission presented a strengthened approach focused on reducing family poverty, improving implementation and reinforcing funding and governance.
This study assesses progress and challenges in child poverty, ECEC, early school leaving, unmet healthcare needs and housing cost overburden. It analyses indicators, mainly for 2019-2025, using Eurostat data and Eurofound’s convergence methodology, and draws mainly on 19 national progress reports and recent literature.
Child poverty
Child poverty remains persistently high. The average share of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in the EU has increased slightly from 23.7% in 2019 to 24.3% in 2025, although more than half of Member States have improved. Higher-AROPE Member States generally recorded stronger improvements, narrowing disparities.
Risks are particularly high for children in single-parent and larger families and are compounded by low income, employment conditions, living costs, disability, migration background and territorial disadvantage. Member States combine income support, employment measures and services with targeted support for children at greatest risk. Families facing multiple disadvantages benefit from integrated local services and outreach.
Early childhood education and care
ECEC participation among children under three has increased from 35.0% in 2019 to 40.6% in 2025, but the gap between AROPE and non-AROPE children has widened. Participation among AROPE children has risen only marginally, from 25.5% to 25.9%, compared with an increase from 37.4% to 45.0% among non-AROPE children. Among children aged three to compulsory school age, participation has declined from 91.0% to 90.2%, with a more pronounced decline among AROPE children, from 86.4% to 82.4%.
Member States are expanding ECEC provision and reducing financial barriers, but effective access also depends on sufficient places and staff, territorial coverage, transport, suitable opening hours and manageable administration.
Early school leaving
Early leaving from education and training has fallen from 10.1% in 2019 to 9.1% in 2025, with around two thirds of Member States improving and disparities narrowing. Risks reflect socioeconomic disadvantage, educational difficulties, absenteeism, disengagement, well-being, school environment and territorial inequalities.
Policy responses focus on prevention and early intervention through early-warning systems, case management, educational and psychosocial support, cooperation with families and community services, and help with practical barriers. Identification needs to trigger a timely response.
Unmet healthcare needs
Unmet medical needs among children have increased from 1.7% in 2017 to 3.2% in 2024, with fewer than half of Member States improving. Needs have increased among both AROPE (from 3.5% to 4.9%) and non-AROPE children (from 1.1% to 2.7%). Overall dispersion narrowed, while the distance from the best-performing country widened.
The main challenge is effective access to healthcare services rather than formal entitlement. Member States are strengthening preventive, community-based and mental healthcare, but staff shortages, waiting times, regional inequalities and costs continue to generate unmet needs. Expanded entitlements need sufficient workforce and adequate service capacity.
Housing cost overburden
Housing cost overburden among children has decreased from 8.0% in 2019 to 6.4% in 2025, with around two thirds of Member States improving and disparities narrowing. Member States combine housing allowances and rent subsidies with affordable and social housing investment, energy measures, and homelessness and eviction prevention. Complex application procedures can also limit take-up.
Cross-cutting implementation challenges and lessons learned
Across all five areas, formal entitlement does not necessarily translate into effective access. Financial, territorial, capacity and administrative barriers interact: free or subsidised services have limited effect where places, professionals or affordable housing are unavailable.
Children experiencing multiple disadvantages require coordinated support. Fragmented responsibilities across education, healthcare, social protection and housing can leave families navigating separate systems. Effective implementation requires stronger coordination and sufficient local capacity.
Financing is difficult to identify and track across national, local and EU sources, limiting transparency, while temporary project funding can undermine sustainability.
Monitoring remains weak. Reporting focuses more on measures and activities than on whether children are reached or whether outcomes improve, while insufficiently disaggregated data hinder assessment of overlapping disadvantages. Children’s participation in the implementation and monitoring of the Child Guarantee remains uneven, requiring permanent channels for participation in policy design, implementation and monitoring.
Policy recommendations
- Make effective access a central objective. Address costs, service shortages, waiting times, distance, administrative complexity and information gaps through proactive identification, outreach, simplified access and effective referrals, including continuity of support during transition into adulthood.
- Combine broad access with additional support for children facing greater or overlapping disadvantages. Target barriers linked to poverty, disability, migration-related disadvantage, housing deprivation, alternative care and territorial isolation, using better disaggregated and territorial data to inform interventions.
- Match expanded entitlements and financial support with sufficient service capacity, workforce and quality. Address availability, affordability, accessibility and quality together, particularly in ECEC, healthcare and social services, and prioritise underserved territories.
- Strengthen integrated implementation and accountability. National Child Guarantee Coordinators need clear mandates, capacity and political support, backed by formal cross-sectoral coordination and clear responsibilities across national, regional and local levels.
- Ensure adequate, identifiable and sustainable financing. Reporting should link measures, authorities and funding sources more clearly. The post-2027 EU financing framework should provide predictable support where needs are greatest and sustain successful interventions.
- Strengthen the implementation cycle through measurable objectives, monitoring, evaluation and participation. National action plans should set time-bound objectives, responsibilities, indicators and identifiable funding. Monitoring should assess coverage, take-up, effective access, quality and outcomes, using disaggregated data. EU monitoring should provide regular feedback on persistent gaps and integrate meaningful children’s participation.
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