Luxembourg charities have welcomed the government’s poverty plan announced earlier this week but stressed the need to make sure measures come into place and are effective.
The government on Monday unveiled a planned raft of some 106 measures that include increasing child benefits and adjusting housing subsidies.
The plan aims to reduce poverty by looking at social policy in numerous areas. It had been in the works since the November 2023 coalition agreement, when the governing CSV and DP promised to draw up a strategy to combat rising poverty.
Government unveils package of measures to tackle poverty
Sérgio Ferreira at ASTI, a charity that supports immigrants, welcomed the plan and the consultation of civil society organisations and NGOs to help shape it. But he stressed that the government needs to make sure the measures are put into place and are effective.
“I hope that we can put our money where our mouth is,” the political director at the charity said. “Poverty is such a complex phenomenon and even more in a rich country like ours […] we have to make sure that all the measures that were announced are effective to fight against the tsunami,” he added.
As part of the measures Luxembourg’s government intends to increase child benefits by €45 per child per month, as early as 2027. Adjustments will also be made to financial aid to parents for the cost of crèches or other types of after-school care, to help bear expensive childcare costs.
But Serge Kollwelter, who worked at ASTI for more than 40 years, questions why the child benefit raise is not coming in for another year.
“Nobody is stopping them from doing it next year. What are they waiting for? In 2026, the risk of poverty among children will not decrease by itself,” Kollwelter told the Luxemburger Wort.
To try to make benefits more accessible for residents, the government will modernise the system and cut red tape, as well as tightening up measures against fraudulent benefit claims.
Family Minister Max Hahn told reporters at a press conference that Luxembourg will introduce an online platform to streamline benefit payments on which people can enter their details and immediately see what they are entitled to.
Director of social action and health at the Red Cross Nadine Conrardy told the Luxemburger Wort that she welcomed plans to streamline administrative procedures. She was also pleased that some of the Red Cross suggestions for the plan were included.
She added that she thinks the measures need to be regularly reviewed to ensure they are effective. “It’s a good start,” said Conrardy.
André Duebbers, chairman of homeless charity Stëmm vun der Strooss, welcomed the plan as well and the fact it was organised and drawn up between ministries. “[But] it’s too early to speculate about the success of this policy plan,” he said.
Both Duebbers and Ferreira think one of the biggest problems contributing towards poverty in the Grand Duchy is lack of affordable housing.
Luxembourg City has the most expensive rental market of any capital in Europe, a Deloitte survey said in August. Tenants in the Grand Duchy’s capital paid an average of €43.40 per square metre in monthly rent in 2024, far higher than in Paris at €32 and Dublin at €31.70, the next most costly cities.
Luxembourg City rents most expensive of any European capital, study shows
Ferreira criticised the government and said he thought it had not done enough to tackle the housing issue in previous years.
Charel Schmit, the Ombudsman for Children and Young People (Okaju), told the Luxemburger Wort ahead of the launch of the plan that the government has so fair fallen short of addressing housing needs.
“Children and young people today are growing up in poor housing conditions,” Schmit said. “Politicians must create affordable housing, build more social housing, and offer a larger housing stock that can accommodate families with children – including families with many children,” he added.
Child poverty will not be solved without an ambitious poverty plan, says ombudsman
Déi Lénk also echoed his comments in a press release, with the with the left-wing party saying housing continues to be the main cause of poverty in Luxembourg. “It is no longer acceptable for the government to finance inflated real estate prices through its subsidy policy and thus line the pockets of real estate dealers and large landlords,” the press release said.
