According to the Eurostat Social Scoreboard, in 2024, Greece recorded the highest rate of people spending 40% or more of their disposable income on housing in the European Union, along with the highest rate of those struggling to keep their homes adequately warm. These rates, listed as 28.9% and 19% respectively, are alarming, and underscore the need to address housing-related issues as part of the EU’s broader efforts to combat poverty and social exclusion.
While we await the European Affordable Housing Plan to be translated into practical, actionable measures such as through the Council Recommendation on Fighting Housing Exclusion, planned for mid-2026, individuals and families across Europe must rely on existing supports, including minimum income schemes and housing support allowances.
Improving the Social Scoreboard to include social services indicators
Despite introducing key figures, such as the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, the Social Scoreboard does not capture other social indicators that play a crucial role in people’s safety and wellbeing. For example, their access to emergency accommodation centres, including in cases of domestic violence.
In its recent resolution on the 2026 European Semester for economic policy coordination, the European Parliament drew attention to this shortfall, calling on the European Commission to “improve and update the Social Scoreboard, making sure it reflects the drivers and impacts of inequality, including … access to public and social services”. This is a welcome step in the right direction.
Leveraging the European Social Services Index to close gaps in data
Against this backdrop, and for the second year in a row, the European Parliament has recognised the contribution of the European Social Services Index (ESSI) in ensuring that the recommendations formulated within the European Semester process are evidence-based, as well as its role in facilitating the monitoring of their implementation.
Launched in 2023 by the European Social Network (ESN), the ESSI was created for exactly this reason: to provide the European Commission with the most recent evidence on the needs of particularly vulnerable groups and to make recommendations on how national governments can respond.
Harnessing new figures from the ESSI to improve outcomes
Minimum income schemes are a key instrument for preventing poverty and social exclusion, providing a safety net for individuals and families who lack sufficient resources to meet basic needs. With this in mind, the ESSI tracks implementation across countries.
In our 2025 ESSI Cross-Country Analysis, we found that all 16 featured countries have national minimum income schemes based on means testing or income below a certain threshold. However, information on the number of people directly and indirectly benefiting from them is available in only 8 countries, meaning there is only a partial picture available of their impact.
In April 2025, in Greece, 160,395 people received the Minimum Guaranteed Income, and 21,204 received the Social Solidarity Allowance for Uninsured Older People, representing 1.7% of the total population. Additionally, 194,789 people received the Housing Allowance, constituting a further 1.87% of the population.
In the case of housing support allowances, our findings indicate that 11 of the 16 countries have housing support allowances separate from minimum income schemes at the national level. However, only nine hold data on the number of beneficiaries of housing support allowances or the number of allowances granted (for at least one type of scheme).
Strengthening the ESSI and social policies through a common framework
Gaps in vital information are a symptom of a much larger, systemic problem: the absence of common definitions and data indicators on social services expenditure and coverage across Europe. This is why ESN has been persistently advocating for change, even before the inception of the ESSI. We agree with the European Parliament’s stance on the need for “timely, harmonised and transparent data and methodologies to improve evidence-based policymaking and targeted social investments,” and will continue to work towards this.
The ESSI greatly strengthens the European Semester. Developing benchmark frameworks for regular collection and reporting by EU Member States across service areas would help us provide even more comprehensive and reliable figures and recommendations.
In the meantime, ESN’s ongoing efforts will include extending the scope of the ESSI. Thanks to our dedicated ESSI Working Group, we expect to cover at least 19 countries in 2026, producing both country-specific factsheets and a cross-country comparison, and we are determined to secure ambitious policy change that guarantees access to social services across Europe.
