In 2024, 68.5% of children aged between 3 years and the minimum compulsory school age in the EU received formal childcare or education for at least 25 hours per week, while 20.8% received it for 24 hours per week or less. Only 10.8% of children were not in formal care or education.
Data shows that children at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) within the same age group are less likely to receive formal childcare or education. In 2024, 59.0% of children at risk received formal childcare or education for 25 hours or more, compared with 71.4% of children not at risk. Additionally, 17.6% of children at risk did not participate in any formal childcare or education, compared with 8.7% of children not at risk.
At the same time, children at risk of poverty or social exclusion had a higher likelihood (23.4%) of attending formal childcare and education from 1 to 24 hours than those not at risk (20.0%).
Source dataset: ilc_caindform25b
For more information
- Statistics Explained article on living conditions in Europe – childcare arrangements
- Statistics Explained – online publication on living conditions in Europe
- Thematic section on income and living conditions
- Database on income and living conditions
- Key figures on European living conditions – 2025 edition
- Infographic on children in the EU
Methodological notes
- Due to rounding, the percentages might not add up to 100%, the difference being maximum 0.1 percentage point.
- Following the Council Recommendation of 8 December 2022 on early childhood education and care – the Barcelona targets for 2030 (2022/C 484/01)- in 2023, Eurostat defined a new indicator for measuring ’children in formal childcare or education by age group and duration’, setting the threshold for the number of hours in formal childcare or education at 25 hours per week, and breaking the indicator down by the at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) status (ilc_caindform25) and by income quintile (ilc_caindform25q). Furthermore, an additional indicator is available showing the share of children in formal childcare or education out of the population of children in their respective AROPE situation (ilc_caindform25b). Together with the 3 age groups already available in the former indicator (ilc_caindformal), an additional age group has also been added for children from 1 to 2 years old.
