It calls for universal support for parenting, improving access to the Minimum Living Income, and increasing public spending on scholarships and study aids
34% of children and adolescents are at risk of poverty in Spain, as warned by the Childhood Platform. «Although the average income of the population has improved, childhood remains the most vulnerable group with higher poverty risk rates than adults,» explained director Ricardo Ibarra.
Ibarra made these comments during the presentation of the report ‘Analysis of the Living Conditions Survey with a Focus on Childhood 2025’, based on the publication of the 2024 Living Conditions Survey (LCS) on February 13, 2025 by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Among the figures published by the INE, the Childhood Platform has highlighted that more than 2.7 million children and adolescents are living in poverty and social exclusion in Spain, a figure that has increased compared to the previous year, making it the third highest data point in the historical series, with levels close to those of 2015. Adolescents aged 13 to 17 are the most affected group, with a poverty risk rate of 35.8%.
«These data place Spain at the top of the highest child poverty rate in the European Union, highlighting the need to promote urgent measures to break the cycle of poverty and ensure a dignified present and future for all children and adolescents,» Ibarra stated. The Platform also emphasizes that child poverty stands at 29.2%, reflecting a gap between children and adults, as the poverty rate for adults is 17.8%.
On the other hand, the organization noted that 53.7% of households with children and adolescents struggle to make ends meet. Severe material deprivation in childhood has decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 10.2%, the second highest data point in the entire historical series, surpassed only by the 2023 data. «This has consequences for the health, education, and overall well-being of children and adolescents, such as inadequate nutrition, lack of access to a computer limiting their educational opportunities and increasing the digital divide, or not being able to go on vacation for at least a week a year, affecting their mental health,» Ibarra pointed out.
Among the factors directly influencing the risk of child poverty, the Platform pointed out the origin of parents, living in a single-mother or single-father family, or being part of a large family: In 2024, 67.9% of children with foreign parents were at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion; 50.4% of single-mother households; and in households with three children, the rate was 48.7% and with more than three, 65.1%.
CHILDHOOD IN RURAL AREAS
Furthermore, it has been emphasized that 35.7% of children in rural areas are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, a figure higher than the national average. In terms of regional differences, in 2024, Andalusia had the highest rates of child poverty and social exclusion, at 44.4%, followed by Murcia (43.9%) and the Canary Islands (38.6%).
In this context, the Childhood Platform calls for the creation of universal support for parenting; improving access to the Minimum Living Income; ensuring a minimum of four months of paid leave for mothers and fathers; increasing public spending on scholarships and study aids to 0.44% of GDP by 2025; adopting a State Educational Inclusion Plan against all forms of segregation; increasing measures to guarantee the right to decent housing; ensuring that no families with children are evicted, expanding the ban on utility disconnections, with specific attention to the presence of children and adolescents, among others.
«Spain has a structural problem with child poverty that sets it apart from the rest of Europe. We cannot continue to postpone our commitments to children to reach the European average in investment. The Family Law must be approved and the European Reconciliation Directive must be transposed, along with the approval of a universal parenting benefit as committed by the Spanish Government. Childhood in our country cannot continue to lead child poverty in Europe,» Ibarra concluded.
