Addressing poverty in the EU

Poverty continues to present a persistent and multidimensional challenge right across the European Union. In early 2026, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) published a significant policy-focused report titled “Addressing poverty in the EU: Insights from science and practice for an Anti-poverty Strategy” . This study brings together academic research, empirical evidence and practical policy insights to inform the first comprehensive EU Anti-poverty Strategy announced for the 2024-2029 political mandate. The report was prepared as a science-for-policy support document, intended to assist policymakers, national authorities, civil society and researchers in understanding the nature of poverty and the options for effective action.

Why have an EU Anti-Poverty Strategy?

Poverty, both in Ireland and across the broader European Union, is not just about trying to get by on a low income. It includes material deprivation, social exclusion, having limited access to services and unequal opportunities. Despite being one of the wealthiest areas in the world, some EU countries still face persistent gaps in social protection, labour market inclusion, housing quality and access to education. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic disruptions further exposed vulnerabilities in social safety nets. Recognising this, the European Commission set out to develop a more explicit, EU-level anti-poverty strategy, a coordinated effort to reduce poverty and enhance social inclusion across all Member States. This report helps shape this strategy by grounding it in scientific evidence and policy-relevant guidelines.

The report notes the Multidimensional Nature of Poverty and emphasises that poverty should be understood beyond income thresholds. It includes access to basic services such as healthcare, education and housing, social participation and inclusion and job quality and labour market stability. This multidimensional perspective aligns with current EU policy debates. A central aim of the publication is to compile Evidence Based Policy Insights from best practices and lessons from Member States’ anti-poverty programmes. The report supports the creation of an EU Anti-poverty Strategy that could include:

• Enhanced social protection systems to reduce material deprivation.
• Greater investment in active labour market policies and skills training.
• Measures to ensure inclusive services and access to affordable housing.
• Integrated monitoring frameworks to track progress over time. 

Reducing Poverty in Ireland: policy priorities

Social Justice Ireland believes that it should be a national priority to provide all with sufficient income to live life with dignity. This would require enough income to provide a minimum floor of social and economic resources in such a way as to ensure that no person in Ireland falls below the threshold of social provision necessary to enable him or her to participate in activities that are considered the norm for society generally. If poverty rates are to fall further in the years ahead, Social Justice Ireland believes that the following are required: 

• Increase in social welfare payments.
• Equity of social welfare rates.
• Adequate payments for children.
• Refundable tax credits.
• Decent rates of pay for low paid workers.
• A universal state pension.
• A cost of disability payment. 

Social Justice Ireland believes that in the period ahead Government and policy-makers generally should: 

• Acknowledge that Ireland has an on-going poverty problem.
• Adopt targets aimed at reducing poverty among particular vulnerable groups such as children, lone parents, jobless households and those in social rented housing.
• Examine and support viable, alternative policy options aimed at giving priority to protecting vulnerable sectors of society.
• Carry out in-depth social impact assessments prior to implementing proposed policy initiatives that impact on the income and public services that many low income households depend on. This should include the poverty-proofing of all public policy initiatives.
• Link the value of all core welfare payments to movements in average earnings, so that welfare dependent households do not fall behind.
• Recognise the problem of the ‘working poor’. Make tax credits refundable to address the situation of households in poverty which are headed by a person with a job.
• Support the widespread adoption of a living-costs linked Living Wage so that low paid workers receive an adequate income and can afford a minimum, but decent, standard of living.
• Introduce a cost of disability allowance to address the poverty and social exclusion of people with a long-term illness or disability.
• Recognise the reality of poverty among migrants and adopt policies to assist this group including the full implementation of the White Paper on the Elimination of Direct Provision.
• Accept that persistent poverty should be used as the primary indicator of poverty measurement and assist the CSO in allocating sufficient resources to collect this data.
• Introduce a universal basic income system. No other approach has the capacity to ensure all members of society have sufficient income to live life with dignity.
• Acknowledge the failure to meet repeated policy targets on poverty reduction and commit sufficient resources to achieve ambitious and credible new targets.