More than one in three children in Romania, roughly 1.25 million, live in poverty, and the percentage rises dramatically to 75.8% for those whose parents have a low level of education, according to 2024 Eurostat data cited by Save the Children Romania.
Children in rural areas face a much higher risk of poverty or social exclusion, at 41.7%, and the situation of children whose parents have a low level of education is dramatic: 75.8% of them are at risk, compared to 5.9% of children whose parents have a university education.
With around 33% child poverty rates, Romania is far above the EU average of 24.2%. At the EU level, nearly 1 in 4 children, a total of 19.5 million, continue to be exposed to the risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to the most recent Save the Children report. Romania ranks third in the EU for the highest child poverty rate, after Bulgaria (35.1%) and Spain (34.6%).
The lowest risk of poverty and social exclusion is recorded for children in Slovenia (11.8%), Cyprus (14.8%), and the Czech Republic (15.4%), according to Eurostat 2024.
Romanian children continue to be much more affected by poverty compared to adults, with the risk of poverty or social exclusion among children seven percentage points higher than among adults.
A study conducted by Save the Children Romania in summer 2025 shows that nearly three in five (58%) of families whose children participate in the organization’s educational programs cannot cover the costs of children’s participation in education without external support, with this percentage rising dramatically to 87% among those in subjective poverty and among those with a low educational level.
Children from Roma families (78% at risk of poverty), those from rural areas (41.7%), from single-parent families (36.5%), or large families (51%), and children whose parents have a low level of education (75.8%) are most at risk. So are children from refugee families due to the Ukraine war (28.4%).
Major causes of child poverty remain the insufficient investment in children: Romania’s spending on social protection (12.8% of GDP), education (3.3%), and health (4.7%), gaps in data collection and monitoring, and the lack of predictability of funds.
“Data shows, once again, that socioeconomic vulnerabilities are often transmitted from one generation to the next, and the main channel through which these disadvantages propagate is education, both in terms of participation and relevance/quality. Educational inclusion of all vulnerable children is crucial, but as part of integrated social policies that actively support children and their parents,” explained Gabriela Alexandrescu, Executive President of Save the Children Romania.
In 2019, the European Union committed to lifting 5 million children out of poverty from the 19.1 million at risk at that time, with a target year of 2030. However, between 2019 and 2024, instead of seeing a decrease, the number of poor children in Europe increased by 446,000, equivalent to a daily average of 244.
(Photo source: Save the Children Romania)
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