Europe is aging, working harder than ever, and yet leaving its children behind. As highlighted by the latest report by the Funcas Foundation, nearly one in five European children live at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
Behind this figure are families who cannot make ends meet, parents forced to share small apartments with their children, mothers juggling precarious jobs, and grandparents once again supporting entire households.
In the European Union—so proud of being the world’s richest and most ‘caring’ continent—more than 19 million minors grow up without the essentials. And the data suggests that the situation is only getting worse.
Funcas’ study Child Poverty in Spain: Recent Trends and Policies reveals a pattern that repeats from Lisbon to Warsaw: Europe’s well-being rests increasingly on shaky foundations. Housing prices are soaring, wages are losing purchasing power, and social aid often fails to reach those who need it most. In the north, where family policies and social housing still work, child poverty hovers around 10%. In the south and east, however, those rates double or even triple.
Among all EU countries, Spain ranks worst, with 29.2% of minors living in poverty, almost ten points above the European average. In other words, nearly three in ten Spanish children grow up in households unable to guarantee a decent life.
Funcas economists are blunt: child poverty is not caused by a lack of work, but by the poor quality of work. In many households, at least one adult is employed, but wages are so low—or contracts so unstable—that families still cannot cover basic needs. Added to this is the precarious situation of young people, who postpone or abandon the idea of having children altogether.
The report also highlights another uncomfortable factor: mass immigration. Data shows that nearly half of all children with parents born outside the EU live in poverty, a figure that exposes the growing social fracture in working-class neighborhoods and the overload of public services. Overcrowded schools, unaffordable rents, and saturated welfare programs are now the norm. Solidarity, turned into a political slogan, cannot replace a serious policy of integration and employment.
Brussels insists that housing policy must be a priority, but if it follows the Spanish model, Europe will soon be promoting “co-living” spaces and “intergenerational homes” (young people sharing with lonely elderly). No ownership, no affordable rent—just another illusion of community masking economic decline.
Europe’s problem is not only about income—it is about direction. Family policies have been replaced by ideological campaigns; birth rates are collapsing, and young Europeans increasingly feel that having children is a luxury. While Brussels pours billions into “green” or identity-based initiatives, millions of European children go without stable housing or a hot meal each day.
Funcas sums it up clearly: “It’s not about investing more, but investing better.” That means supporting those who truly need it, ensuring dignified work, affordable housing, and real family support networks. But above all, it means recovering the conviction that Europe’s future begins at home.
