Non-traditional learning gained momentum in 2024, with more policy support and recognition, alongside lifelong learning initiatives for green-economy skills. Vocational education and training expanded, with countries like Serbia, Spain,
and Bulgaria adopting dual models and promoting STEM,though Spain faces teacher shortages. Despite progress, inequalities persist as public schools lack resources while private schools grow more elitist, and student segregation — both academic and social — remains evident across Europe.

The 2024 EIGE Gender Equality Index gave the EU a score of 71 out of 100, a 0.8-point rise from 2023, with highest scores in health (88.6) and money (83.4) and biggest gains in power (+2.3). Yet, disparities remain, with Spain (76.7) leading and Greece (59.3) lagging. Persistent gender pay gaps, limited childcare, and cultural care expectations continue to hinder women’s em-ployment, while gender-based and LGBTQI+ violence is rising across Europe.

Migration policy tightened in many EU countries, with continued illegal pushbacks and return hubs in countries like Greece and Italy, while mi-grants still face discrimination, and barriers to decent work and essential services. Portugal’s administrative transition caused major delays in residence permits. Countries like Germany, Slove-nia, Serbia, and Croatia made reforms to promote labour migration, regularisation, and fair treatment for foreign workers.

Wages across Europe rose in 2024, but of- ten failed to keep pace with inflation, reducing households’ purchasing power and leaving 8.2% of workers at risk of poverty. Vulnerable groups — women, migrants, and those in low-income regions — remain most affected by pay gaps and wage dis- parities. Employment reached 75.8%, with growth driven by green economy jobs, yet temporary and informal contracts persist in low-wage sectors, es-pecially in Southern and Eastern Europe, leaving many workers in precarious and insecure conditions.

Occupational safety and health remain a concern across Europe, with countries like Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Spain still relying on outdated legal frameworks that obscure incident data. While Albania and Serbia implemented new OSH laws in 2024, enforcement remains weak overall due to limited labour inspections and insufficient capacity, allowing many employers to evade accountability.

Social dialogue remains uneven across Europe — relatively stable in Central Europe but weak in the Western Balkans. Tripartite institutions in Albania and Kosovo were largely inactive, no new collective agreements were reached in Serbia, and social dialogue in North Macedonia remains highly ineffective.

The SRM highlights the severity of Europe’s housing crisis, which affects social groups differently. Young people increasingly struggle to access adequate housing, with soaring rents forcing many into shared living; about 70% of Spanish youth rent, and 87% share apartments. Economically disadvantaged households, such as single parents and migrants, face similar hardship as wages fail to match rising housing costs driven by the financialisation of the market and a shortage of social housing. Coordinated EU and national strategies, including the European Affordable Housing Plan, are urgently needed to expand affordable housing and address homelessness and exclusion.

Poverty remains a major challenge in Europe, with 21% of the EU population at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2024. Rising living and housing costs have hit single parents, migrants, and low-income households hardest, showing poverty’s deeply interconnected causes. Regional disparities persist—southern Italy’s poverty rate, for example, is more than double that of the north. A comprehensive EU anti-poverty strategy is urgently needed, built on human rights and intersectionality, with targeted, region-specific measures. Access barriers to welfare also persist, though some countries, like France and Portugal, are taking steps to improve benefit accessibility.

Europe’s green economy shows strong potential for social progress, creating jobs in Spain and Albania, with further opportunities in North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia. To fully realise this potential, investment is needed in training for both workers and educators, along with public support to ensure jobs are high-quality, inclusive, and socially just. The proposed Quality Jobs Roadmap could drive this, but it must prioritise workers and communities, fund just transitions, and integrate lifelong learning.

Access to affordable energy remains a challenge in Europe, with 9.2% of EU households unable to adequately heat their homes in 2024, reaching nearly 19% in Bulgaria and Greece. High energy costs force many, especially poorer households, to rely on unsafe fossil fuels in inadequate housing. Measures to ease this include Germany’s financial and counselling support and Bulgaria’s development of energy communities under the EU Energy Community Initiative.

Civic space in Europe remains under pressure, with several countries classified as “Narrowed” by the CIVICUS Monitor due to restrictions on protests and civil rights, and increasing intolerance toward divergent opinions. CSOs face criminalisation, funding cuts, and limited participation in decision-making, while excessive force and intimidation against protesters in countries like Greece and Serbia further restrict civic engagement. Barriers to meaningful civil dialogue discourage CSOs from participating, as seen in Croatia, where public consultation involvement dropped sharply from 2023 to 2024.