On Monday, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will debate new measures to combat poverty, underlining that poverty is a violation of human dignity.
Recent figures released by Eurostat only highlight the urgency of the situation: one in five Europeans is at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and one in four children is raised in precarious conditions.
In May, the European Commission adopted its first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, with the targeted aim of preventing hardship and strengthen access to housing, employment, social services, and protections for vulnerable individuals.
The strategy works to enable people to live and work without fearing for their future, while tackling the stigma associated with poverty.
Despite these efforts, large disparities persist between EU member states.
On average, 21% of the EU population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
Some countries face far higher rates, with Bulgaria at 29%, Greece at 28%, and Romania at 27%.
Czechia reports the lowest figure at 12%.
While Luxembourg sits just below the EU average, with 18%, this remains a cause for concern in a country where housing costs are high and lower-income households face considerable financial pressure.
For the EU's institutions, the focus is now on translating the anti-poverty strategy into concrete action, with MEPs set to discuss how to strengthen existing programmes and better coordinate national policies to deliver tangible improvements.
While numbers and figures help illustrate a problem, it is important to remember that behind these statistics are millions of families living with uncertainty and in precarity.
And through the anti-poverty strategy, the EU strengthens one of its core pillars: protecting the social rights of EU citizens.
