Brussels, February 29, 2024 — Nearly 96% of European children report good or very good health, but a significant gap exists for those facing poverty or social exclusion, according to a new Eurostat survey. This disparity highlights ongoing inequalities in health outcomes across the European Union.
Health Disparities Among EU Children
A recent survey reveals a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and perceived health in children across Europe.
- In 2024, 95.7% of children under sixteen in the EU reported good or very good health.
- This figure drops to 93.3% for children at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
- Significant differences in access to medical and dental care exist between countries and socioeconomic groups.
The EU-SILC 2024 survey found that 95.7% of children under sixteen across the European Union self-report a good or very good state of health. However, this percentage dips to 93.3% among children at risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared to 96.4% for those not at risk. This suggests that financial hardship can negatively impact a child’s perceived well-being.
What factors contribute to these health disparities among European children? Socioeconomic conditions, family structure, and access to healthcare services all play a role, with children from disadvantaged backgrounds facing greater challenges.
Variations Across Member States
The percentage of children reporting good or very good health varies considerably across EU member states, ranging from 92.3% in Portugal to 98.9% in Greece. Twenty-one countries report rates of 95% or higher. The gap between children at risk of poverty and their more affluent peers is particularly pronounced in Portugal (7.7 percentage points) and Ireland (6.8 percentage points), while Malta, Romania, and Bulgaria show smaller differences.
Disability Prevalence
Overall, 4.6% of children in the EU experience limitations in activities due to health problems, broken down into 3.5% with moderate disabilities and 1.1% with severe disabilities. Moderate disability rates are highest in Denmark (10.8%), Finland (10.6%), and Sweden (7.1%), while Greece (0.1%), Romania (0.6%), and Italy (0.9%) report the lowest levels. Severe disability remains relatively rare, exceeding 2% only in Denmark (2.3%) and Sweden (2.2%).
The incidence of disability is also linked to income, with 5.1% of children in families earning less than 60% of the median equivalent income experiencing moderate or severe limitations, compared to 4.3% in higher-income families. Disability prevalence also increases with age, rising from 2.8% in children under four to 4.7% in those aged five to nine, and 5.6% in the ten-to-fifteen age group.
Access to Healthcare
In 2024, 3.2% of children in the EU have unmet needs for medical care, and 4.1% report unmet needs for dental care. These percentages are significantly higher among children at risk of poverty or social exclusion, reaching 4.9% for medical care and 8.4% for dental care, compared to 2.7% and 2.8% respectively for those not at risk.
Access to care varies widely by country. For medical care, unmet needs range from 9.4% in Finland to just 0.1% in Croatia and Malta. For dental care, the highest levels are found in Spain (7.5%), Finland (6.8%), and France (6.2%), while Croatia, Malta, and Luxembourg report the lowest rates.
Family structure also influences access to care. Children in single-adult households are more likely to have unmet medical needs (5.0%) than those in households with two or more adults (2.9%). This disparity extends to dental care, with 6.5% of children in single-parent households reporting unmet needs compared to 3.7% in other households.
Italy stands out as having one of the lowest rates of moderate disability among minors (0.9%) and does not appear among the countries with the highest levels of unmet healthcare needs. However, the broader European picture underscores the persistent influence of socioeconomic factors, family dynamics, and healthcare systems on children’s health and well-being.
