Luxembourg Presents National Action Plan to Combat Poverty

On Monday 8 December 2025, Luxembourg's Minister for Family Affairs, Solidarity, Living Together and Reception of Refugees, Max Hahn, the Minister of Health and Social Security, Martine Deprez, and the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning and Minister of Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, presented the country's first national action plan for preventing and fighting poverty.

The involved ministries noted that, despite efforts by successive governments, poverty has continued to evolve in Luxembourg over recent decades. Alongside the measures already introduced to support households in precarious situations, the current government has developed a national action plan to address the issue of poverty in a comprehensive and coordinated way. As poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon, related policy measures must take this reality into account, the ministries stressed.

The plan is the result of extensive consultation with civil society organisations, human rights institutions, social partners, professional chambers and people with lived experience of poverty. It brings together the relevant ministries and social actors around the shared goal of building a more supportive, inclusive and equitable society.

The ministries emphasised that poverty is not only an individual hardship, affecting the lives of those concerned in all aspects, fostering social exclusion and impacting human dignity; it also remains one of the most complex challenges for society as a whole, threatening social cohesion and testing values ​such as solidarity and equality.

"Poverty, in all its forms, cannot be accepted in a country like Luxembourg. While the fight against poverty is a long-term challenge, this action plan represents a major strategic step forward in tackling the dynamics of poverty and exclusion," stated Minister Hahn. "It lays the foundations for a more coordinated, coherent and ambitious approach by strengthening collaboration between various public actors and non-profit organisations, while also including the voices of people with lived experience of poverty."

Minister Meisch added: "Our priority is to reduce inequalities and combat child poverty and precariousness in order to guarantee every child and young person fair conditions to build their future. To achieve this, we are focusing both on targeted financial support for families and a set of measures aimed at strengthening equal opportunities and academic success. Just as educational opportunities should never depend on the conditions in which a child grows up, access to decent housing cannot be jeopardised by a precarious financial situation."

"The government is also strengthening its support for families, increasing the supply of affordable housing and reducing the burden of housing costs for the most vulnerable households, to give everyone the opportunity to live with dignity and look to the future with confidence," he continued.

Minister Deprez stated: "Good health is an essential pillar for preventing poverty and reducing inequalities. By supporting the most vulnerable, strengthening prevention and health promotion, facilitating access to care and adapting our social security mechanisms, we are consolidating more inclusive protection. And by providing greater support to children and families - particularly through the new birth allowance linked to language disorder screening - we are taking action from the earliest age to strengthen the foundations of a more equitable society."

The action plan is structured around eight strategic priorities, each with concrete objectives:

• ensuring effective access to rights and social services by combating non-take-up, simplifying administrative procedures and strengthening the skills of professionals in the social and educational sector;
• consolidating social assistance and benefits, with a focus on increased support for children, families and the elderly, notably through new financial assistance, reforms of existing programmes (e.g. social inclusion income and social assistance) and preventive measures to combat over-indebtedness. The childcare voucher system will also be adapted;
• addressing the housing crisis by increasing the supply of affordable housing, facilitating access to this housing and reducing the financial burden on households, while strengthening measures against energy poverty;
• in the area of ​​health and social security, the plan foresees expanded access to care for vulnerable individuals, stronger prevention and health promotion, and the revision of social security mechanisms to make them more inclusive;
• strengthening education and childhood support, with measures to ensure a good educational start for all children, diversify school and language offerings, combat school dropout and promote social inclusion;
• promoting continuing education and lifelong learning, with initiatives enabling individuals to enhance their skills and to adapt to labour market changes, as well as making vocational training more accessible and inclusive;
• regarding ​​employment, the plan aims to stabilise and activate REVIS (social inclusion income) beneficiaries, combat youth unemployment, support people with disabilities, and regulate new forms of work;
• fostering social cohesion by encouraging the participation of people experiencing poverty in social life, improving access to leisure and culture, and raising awareness of the realities of poverty.

According to the ministries, the plan has a clear governance structure, ensuring the implementation of these measures through an inter-ministerial committee and a monitoring group, composed of civil society representatives, among others. The direct involvement of people with lived experience of poverty is considered central to the approach, aimed at ensuring a dignity-based and lived-experience-driven methodology.

The full action plan is available (in French) on the website of Luxembourg's Ministry of Family Affairs, Solidarity, Living Together and Reception of Refugees: https://mfsva.gouvernement.lu/fr/le-ministere/attributions/solidarite/pan-pauvrete.html