On Thursday officials of the European Commission warned that the Union’s pledge to cut the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by half by 2030 is falling behind schedule. Data collected since the 2021 commitment show only a small reduction, with the latest figures indicating a fall of about 3.5 million people – far short of the 15 million reduction required under the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Current scale of poverty and employment

Eurostat estimates that in 2024 more than 93 million Europeans were living in precarious conditions. The overall employment rate in the bloc stands at roughly 76 percent, close to the 78 percent level the Commission aims to reach by 2030, but a large share of those jobs are low‑paid, temporary or lack basic social protections.

Workers in low‑skill occupations earn around 40 percent less than those with university degrees, and the earnings gap widens for migrants. In capital cities such as Madrid, Warsaw and Stockholm, housing costs now consume more than a third of average household income, a trend described by the European Housing Alliance as a new form of spatial poverty linked to unaffordable rent.

Policy response and political constraints

The Commission’s recent communication urges member states to apply existing tools uniformly, notably the Minimum Wage Directive and the Pay Transparency Directive, but it stops short of proposing new legislation. A senior analyst at the European Trade Union Confederation has argued that the tools are already on the books but political will is missing, limiting their impact.

To address the shortfall, the Commission is preparing a “Right to Stay” strategy, expected later in the year, which will focus on affordable housing, vocational training and stronger safety nets for insecure workers. The strategy is intended to help people remain in their birth region and to mitigate the risk of spatial poverty.

National governments, particularly those burdened by high debt, have expressed reluctance to increase spending on social programmes. Austere budget measures in several southern and eastern member states have already reduced funding for health and education, further constraining the capacity to meet the poverty target.

Calls for additional funding and concerns over competitiveness

The European Trade Union Confederation has called for a dedicated EU poverty‑reduction fund, to be financed by a modest rise in the corporate tax rate and a reallocation of fossil‑fuel subsidies. Consumer groups have highlighted that higher energy prices and inflation have eroded real wages, making the 2030 target harder to achieve.

Conversely, the European Business Association has warned that higher taxes or stricter wage rules could undermine competitiveness and job creation. The Commission’s communication therefore focuses on better enforcement of existing rules, improved poverty data collection and coordinated housing policy at EU level, without introducing new legislative measures.

A senior fellow at the Bruegel think‑tank has stressed that the EU can set ambitious targets, but it needs sufficient political capacity and resources to translate them into results before the 2030 deadline.