Financing the ECG: key approaches
Every National Action Plan names its funding. Fewer plans can show how much of it reached children, and what changed for them. This activity follows the money along four links, from the way it is paid to the budget line that takes over when EU funding ends, and shows the approaches documented in EU Member States for each one.
"The strongest practices are those that combine clear ESF+ financing instruments with structured governance and monitoring architectures, creating a traceable chain from EU-level policy commitment through national programme design to local-level service delivery and beneficiary outcomes."
Four links, from allocation to the child
Funding reaches children only if four links hold. Select each link to see the question it answers, and what happens to the funding when that link is missing.
Against verified costs, per child, or directly to families.
When it is missing
Payments are checked against invoices, but none can be linked to a child.
A ministry, a territorial unit, a municipality or a school system.
When it is missing
No local body knows what the allocation for its area is meant to achieve.
Expenditure, outputs and what changes for children.
When it is missing
Reports show contracts and spending, not which children were reached or what changed.
A legal basis, a national budget line or an existing national system.
When it is missing
Services stop when the funding closes.
How is the money paid?
The instrument decides what each payment is tied to: a cost, a child or a family. Open the approaches documented in EU Member States.
Each eligible child from a family receiving social assistance or minimum income receives €150 a year in school-start vouchers, spendable only on school supplies at partner retailers. Since 2025, vouchers are issued through the Schulstart app. The scheme reaches about 50,000 children a year.
It requires
an income-tested benefit system that identifies eligible families; digital access, or an alternative route for families without it.
Childcare is financed as a unit cost per child per month, calculated from income, family composition, child age and attendance schedule. The subsidy is capped at 80% of actual costs or €350 a month, and eligibility is pre-filtered through the Child Benefit system.
It requires
reliable data on eligibility and attendance; a predefined unit cost agreed with the funding authority.
The programme combines ESF+ funding with national systems and uses results-based financing (Financing Not Linked to Costs). A free breakfast is provided in every public school where at least one eligible pupil is identified, reaching about 14,000 pupils a year. EU payments are linked to predefined outputs rather than to verified costs: providing breakfast to at least 49,854 recipients corresponds to an EU contribution of €8.3 million. Digital monitoring through the educational management system (SEP) supports implementation and accountability.
It requires
predictable unit costs, measurable beneficiary counts, and a monitoring system that records outputs.
In short
The instrument decides whether a payment can be linked to a child.
Who manages the money closest to the child?
Funds management decides who knows what the allocation is meant to reach in each area, and who coordinates the services that deliver it.
In September 2024, the programme's Managing Authority selected 31 territorial social areas through a formal decree. Each manages its share of a €40 million ESF+ allocation and coordinates schools, social and health services and third-sector organisations, through six modules (five mandatory, one optional).
It requires
local units able to manage funds and coordinate across sectors.
Led by the Ministry of Education and Science, the programme is implemented through schools across the country. It has supported 117,957 students, with 783 pedagogical specialists involved.
It requires
alignment with national education governance and a school network that reaches the target groups.
Each municipality appoints a network lead and youth case managers. A formal cooperation agreement defines roles and processes, and is also the basis for allocating and accessing funding.
It requires
municipal coordination capacity and agreed roles across sectors.
Facilitators drawn from the Roma, Sinti and Caminanti communities work alongside schools and services.
"In many regions, public administrations no longer had relationships with local RSC communities; it was therefore necessary to rebuild these relationships by identifying process facilitators drawn from the Roma, Sinti, and Caminanti communities themselves."
Italian stakeholder questionnaire, cited in the ESF+ Financing and Tracking Synthesis Report, 2026
It requires
dedicated resources and time to build trust.
In short
The channel puts someone close to the children who knows what the money is for.
What records both the money and the children?
Tracking can follow three things: the money, the outputs, and the outcomes that measure what changes for children. Most documented systems record the first two precisely; fewer record the third.
Each quarter, the online Multifondo system records procedural, financial and physical data: the money spent, the children supported and changes in their situation.
It requires
an online monitoring system used by every territorial unit.
Twice a year, national registers generate lists of young people at risk. In March 2026, the system identified 12,476 potentially vulnerable young people aged 16 to 26, about 3,700 of whom were estimated to need active support. Outcomes are checked again after six months.
It requires
interconnected education, employment and social registers, and a lawful basis for sharing data.
The framework combines statistical and administrative data from education, health and social services in one indicator system covering outputs, outcomes and impacts. It is updated annually, with data supplied by the Central Statistical Office under an annually renewed contract.
"It is of paramount importance to make the monitoring system a 'living system': using digital and analytical tools that are not only suitable for data collection, but also for real-time support of policy decision-making."
Hungarian stakeholder questionnaire, cited in the ESF+ Financing and Tracking Synthesis Report, 2026
It requires
a statistical office with a formal role and common indicator definitions across institutions.
In short
Tracking decides whether anyone can say which children were reached, and what changed for them.
Who pays when EU funding ends?
Governance and monitoring can survive on institutional mandates. Services need a budget line. The documented practices most likely to last planned the transition from the start.
The scheme is legally anchored until 2029. Its 2021 to 2027 budget of €18.6 million is complemented by a national top-up of up to €7.5 million a year.
It requires
a legal basis and an early agreement with the Ministry of Finance.
The subsidy uses the Child Benefit system to determine eligibility, through a fully digitalised administrative system. The new instrument operates inside an established national delivery platform rather than alongside it.
It requires
an existing benefit system with reliable data.
The framework is financed from the national budget, with support from the EU Technical Support Instrument.
It requires
recognising tracking as a permanent function of government, not a project cost.
In short
Transition decides whether the services continue once the EU funding closes.
Which link does each feature strengthen?
Each card describes one feature of a practice documented in EU Member States. Tap the card, then tap the link it mainly strengthens. Some features strengthen more than one link; tap a placed card to move it.
Tap the card to pick it up.
Instrument
Funds management
Tracking
Transition and sustainability
No single practice covers every link
Seen together, the practices show two things. First, the stronger practices work on more than one link: Austria pays per child and took steps to secure the scheme beyond EU funding; Hungary finances its monitoring framework as a permanent function. Second, transition is the link where the documented practices are least advanced.
Three things the evidence shows
Money reaches children through a chain.
The instrument, the funds management, the tracking and the transition together decide whether spending can be traced to children. A gap in one link weakens the others.
Every approach rests on a precondition.
Vouchers and unit costs need a working benefit system; territorial fund managers need local capacity; outcome tracking needs data sharing; transition needs an early agreement with the Ministry of Finance.
Transition is the link most often left open.
The practices most likely to last were anchored in law, in national budgets or in existing systems from the outset.
Apply this to your context
For your largest child-related programme
- Could you say today how much of the money reached children, and what changed for them?
- Which of the four links is weakest?
- Has the Ministry of Finance agreed what will pay for the programme when external funding ends?
Take this to your team: four links, from allocation to the child
National Action Plans name their funding sources. Fewer can show how much of the money reached children, and what changed for them. The difference lies in four links: how the money is paid, who manages it closest to the child, what records both money and children, and who pays when EU funding ends.
Three things the evidence shows
- Money reaches children through a chain. A gap in one link weakens the others.
- Every approach rests on a precondition: a benefit system, local capacity, data sharing, or an early agreement with the Ministry of Finance.
- Transition is the link most often left open. The practices most likely to last were anchored in law, in national budgets or in existing systems from the outset.
Questions to use with your team
- How is the money in our main child-related programme paid: against costs, per child, or to families?
- Who manages the money closest to the children, and do they know what it is meant to achieve?
- What do we record: spending, children reached, or what changed for them?
- Which budget line will take over when external funding ends, and has the Ministry of Finance agreed to it?
- Which link in our chain is weakest, and who would need to act first?
The point of this card is to open a conversation between the people who manage the money and the people who deliver the services. Bring it to a joint meeting and start with the first question.