Historical agreement on the European Social Fund Plus for the fight against child poverty

The EU’s co-legislators reached an agreement on the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) which for the first time, includes a specific objective and earmarking aimed at fighting child poverty.

On 28 January, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a landmark deal on the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). EU Member States with an average of EU child poverty higher than the 2017-2019 EU average (23,4%) will now have to allocate at least 5% of their ESF+ financial resources to tackle child poverty. The agreement also calls on all EU Member States to allocate ESF+ financial resources to targeted actions to combat child poverty.

The EU Alliance for Investing in Children, that Dynamo International is part of, is issuing this statement to congratulate the EU institutions for having reached this agreement and championed children’s rights, but also to highlight what needs to be done to fully capitalise on it.

➔ Read the EU Alliance statement