Eurofound conducts comprehensive annual convergence analyses that illuminate critical social progress across Europe. The analyses presented here examine four crucial aspects: the Social Scoreboard indicator, which brings the European Pillar of Social Rights to life through measurable data. Alongside the scoreboard, other EU policy indicators, including governance and environmental metrics, and the gender equality index are presented. This systematic approach provides essential insights into how European societies are advancing toward shared social goals.
How the EU's social progress is evolving
The EU Social Scoreboard indicators can be grouped under three headings:
Equal opportunities and access to the labour market: This first dimension of the European Pillar of Social Rights Social Scoreboard, equal opportunities and access to the labour market, is foundational to achieving comprehensive upward convergence across the EU. It underpins the principle that every individual, regardless of their background, should have fair access to education, training and quality employment, enabling full participation in society and the economy.
Fair working conditions: This second dimension of the EPSR, fair working conditions, is vital for achieving genuine upward convergence and ensuring a truly social Europe. It encompasses principles related to secure and adaptable employment, adequate wages, health and safety at work and social dialogue.
Social protection and inclusion: This third dimension of the EPSR, social protection and inclusion, is indispensable for solidifying upward convergence and ensuring that no one is left behind in the EU. This dimension encompasses crucial principles related to social security benefits (such as minimum income, unemployment, sickness, maternity and old-age support), access to enabling and essential services (healthcare, childcare, long-term care and housing), and support for people with disabilities.
Key findings 2017–2024
This analysis examines whether conditions are improving overall (growth) and also whether countries are moving closer together in their achievements (upward convergence) across the Social Scoreboard indicators from 2017 to 2024.
Equal opportunities: mixed progress
While this area shows encouraging overall improvements, the benefits are not reaching everyone equally. Persistent gaps remain in early school-leaving rates, women's participation in the workforce and digital skills development, areas where some countries continue to lag significantly behind others.
Fair working conditions: leading the way
Europe has made remarkable strides in improving working conditions, with positive growth across all employment-related indicators and strong convergence as countries move toward similar high standards. However, one significant challenge persists: the gap in disposable income between Member States is widening, meaning some Europeans are being left behind economically even as working conditions improve.
Social protection: progress but some important blind spots remain
The encouraging news is that fewer Europeans overall face poverty and social exclusion marking an improvement compared to 2023. However, this positive trend masks a troubling reality: certain groups, including people with disabilities and those needing healthcare, are not experiencing these improvements. In fact, disparities in access to early childhood care and healthcare are growing, while employment opportunities for people with disabilities are declining across the board.
Key takeaway
While Europe is successfully raising standards in workplace conditions, its social safety net shows concerning gaps that demand urgent attention to ensure no one is left behind in this progress.
For detailed analysis, see Eurofound's policy brief:
16 September 2025
This policy brief assesses upward convergence across the EU since the 2017 European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) proclamation. Using the headline indicators of the Social Scoreboard and applying Eurofound’s convergence framework, which is grounded in scientific literature and the most commonly used statistical measures of convergence, the analysis examines the key dimensions of the EPSR. The results show that significant progress has been made in core labour market indicators, such as employment and unemployment.
However, challenges remain. Improvements have been rather limited in reducing overall poverty and housing cost burdens. Divergence is evident in areas such as basic digital skills and household disposable income, indicating widening disparities. Critically, indicators in fundamental areas such as the disability employment gap and self-reported unmet needs for medical care show concerning downward trends. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that, despite aggregate improvements, inclusive growth has not reached all socio-demographic groups, with vulnerable groups experiencing widening relative disparities. The findings offer crucial insights for the new EPSR Action Plan and the upcoming Porto Social Forum Summit in September 2025.
Are Member States converging?
The sections below illustrate the details of the convergence analysis for each indicator. The governance, environment and gender indicators analyses are available on the other tabs in this page.
