Spain’s child support fails the poor: actionable policy reforms

Spain has the highest child monetary poverty rate in the EU, at 29% in 2024. The largest child cash support instrument, a non-refundable child tax credit, provides more support to higher-income households, failing to reach 60% of children in poverty. Using EUROMOD, the EU tax-benefit microsimulation model, we evaluate two reform scenarios: a universal child benefit, and making the existing child tax credit refundable. We quantify the cost and child-poverty impact of each design, finding both to be more efficient than the status quo. Bringing Spain’s child monetary poverty rate to the EU average would cost approximately 1.19% of GDP, well below existing estimates of the costs of childhood disadvantage at 4–5% of GDP. Our findings support restructuring Spain’s child cash support towards instruments that effectively reach low-income families.