The best anti-poverty policy is job creation

The best social policy is a job. As employers, we see every day that employment is the surest route out of poverty and the strongest foundation for dignity, independence and opportunity. 

Reducing poverty starts with work, skills and effective activation and matching policies. Education and training must stay closely aligned with labour-market needs, while lifelong learning must become the norm, not the exception.

Today, 92.7 million people in the EU—20.9% of the population—are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This is not only a social challenge; it is an economic loss. Every person excluded from work represents unused talent, unmet demand and lost potential for our companies and communities.

Employers do not ask for passive support. We ask for policies that connect people to real opportunities: quality career guidance, apprenticeships, work-based learning, recognition of prior experience, and employment services that match candidates with vacancies quickly and effectively. Activation must be practical and personal, combining training with childcare, mobility support, digital access and incentives that make work pay.

Skills are where social policy and competitiveness meet. Europe faces persistent labour and skills shortages, while too many workers still lack access to upskilling and reskilling. This is a lose-lose situation: people remain trapped in low-quality or precarious work, and businesses struggle to grow.

We need education systems designed with employers, not merely for employers. Curricula must reflect the green and digital transitions; vocational pathways must carry real prestige; and micro-credentials must make skills visible, portable and immediately usable. Adult learning is especially urgent: only 39.5% of adults participated in training in 2022, well below the EU’s 60% target for 2030. 

Lifelong learning cannot remain a slogan. It must become a normal part of every working life—accessible to women returning to work, older employees, low-qualified workers and people in regions undergoing industrial change. Employers are ready to invest in training, but they need predictable frameworks, flexible funding and partnerships with education providers and public employment services. 

The EU’s 2030 targets—78% employment and at least 15 million fewer people at risk of poverty or social exclusion—are ambitious but achievable. They will not be met through subsidies alone. They will be met by building a labour market where people can work, learn, adapt and progress.

By Sandra Parthie, President of the EESC Employers' Group.