In the EU27, children are at greater risk of poverty or social exclusion than the rest of the population. In 2011, 27% of children aged less than 18 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU27, compared with 24% of adults (aged 18-64) and 21% of the elderly (aged 65 and over). Persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion are those who are at least in one of the following three conditions: at-risk-of-poverty, severely materially deprived or living in households with very low work intensity.

In a majority of Member States, children are more affected by at least one of the three forms of poverty or social exclusion than the other two age groups. In 2011, the highest shares of those aged less than 18 who were at risk of poverty or social exclusion were registered in Bulgaria (52%), Romania (49%), Latvia (44%), Hungary (40%) and Ireland (38% in 2010), and the lowest in Sweden, Denmark and Finland (all 16%), followed by Slovenia (17%), the Netherlands (18%) and Austria (19%).

These figures come from a report published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union and are based on data from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Condition (EU-SILC) survey. Among others, the report looks at several factors affecting child poverty, such as the composition of the household in which the children live and the labour market situation of their parents.

Almost one child in two with parents of low education level is at risk of poverty in the EU27

Looking in more detail at monetary poverty, almost half of all children whose parents had a low education level (at the most lower secondary education) were at risk of poverty in the EU27 in 2011, compared with 22% of children residing with parents who had a medium education level (at the most upper secondary education) and 7% of children with parents with a higher education level (tertiary education).

In all Member States, the risk of poverty for children decreased when the education level of their parents was high. The largest differences between the share of children at risk of poverty who lived in a low and in a high education level household were found in Romania (78% of children in a low education level household compared with 2% in a high education level household), the Czech Republic (76% and 5%), Slovakia (77% and 7%), Bulgaria (71% and 2%) and Hungary (68% and 3%), and the smallest differences in Denmark (17% and 5%) and Finland (24% and 6%).

Almost one child in three with a migrant background is at risk of poverty in the EU27

In the EU27, children who have a migrant background, meaning that at least one parent was born in another country than the current country of residence, were at greater risk of monetary poverty than children whose parents were native born. In 2011, 32% of children residing with at least one foreign born parent were at risk of poverty in the EU27, compared with 18% of children whose parents were native born.

This was the case in a majority of Member States. In Estonia, Hungary and Malta children with native born parents had a higher risk of poverty, while there was almost no difference between the two groups in the Czech Republic.

With regard to children who lived with at least one foreign born parent, the share of those at risk of poverty varied significantly between Member States in 2011, ranging from 15% in the Czech Republic, 17% in Estonia and 18% in Malta to 46% in Spain, 43% in Greece and 39% in France. The share of children at risk of poverty who lived with native born parents was lowest in Denmark and Austria (both 8%) and highest in Romania (33%).