The 'la Caixa' Foundation and the European Social Fund Plus Allocate 124 Million to Social Projects

The 'la Caixa' Foundation has selected 147 projects from social entities through the More Childhood and More Employment aid calls, to which it will allocate 96.5 million euros co-financed with the European Social Fund Plus. An additional 27.5 million euros will be allocated to the More Youth Employment call, which will be resolved in March 2025.

As the main private intermediate body of the European Social Fund Plus, the 'la Caixa' Foundation promotes these three calls to which a total of 124 million euros co-financed with the European Union will be allocated. The aim is to foster the employability of young people and groups at risk of social exclusion and to improve the living conditions of children in poverty and their families.

"We want to provide opportunities to those who need it most. Therefore, through these calls, we reinforce our programs' historic commitment to socio-labor integration and the fight against child poverty. Together with the European Union, we firmly support employment and education as key tools to curb the increase in social inequalities," stated Marc Simón, Deputy General Director of the 'la Caixa' Foundation.

The 80 social projects selected in the More Employment call have a budget of over 48 million euros co-financed between the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus, with 33,653,846 euros, and the 'la Caixa' Foundation, with 14,672,092 euros. These projects include individualized pathways; training to improve employability; job prospecting and intermediation; job orientation in active job searching; and in case of insertion, support and follow-up of hiring.

The More Childhood call also has a budget of over 48 million euros co-financed between the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus, with 33,653,846 euros, and the 'la Caixa' Foundation, with 14,672,092 euros. It has been launched for the first time in Spain to promote the social integration of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, particularly the most disadvantaged and children.

Sixty-seven projects from social entities have been selected to carry out six-year initiatives that include individualized pathways, personalized follow-up, and coordination with local agents.

This call is built on the model and intervention methodology for minors from the 'la Caixa' Foundation's CaixaProinfancia program, which has assisted more than 375,000 children since 2007.

The More Youth Employment call is open until October 16th and will be resolved in March 2025. It has a budget of over 27 million euros co-financed between the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus with 19,230,769 euros and the 'la Caixa' Foundation with 8,383,665 euros. This call is aimed at non-profit entities that promote training pathways for young people between 16 and 29 years old who are beneficiaries of the National Youth Guarantee System—preferably young people without studies or those with an educational level below high school or higher vocational training. The training pathways should have a predominantly practical orientation and be closely linked to labor market needs and companies' requirements so that skills for labor insertion are strengthened through access to stable and quality employment.

The promotion of More Employment, More Youth Employment, and More Childhood calls reinforces the 'la Caixa' Foundation's commitment to people's well-being, especially that of vulnerable groups.

For 2024, the entity has a record budget of 600 million euros—the highest in its history—of which 58.7%, more than 350 million euros, will be allocated to developing social programs such as CaixaProinfancia to fight child poverty; Incorpora for labor integration; Comprehensive Care for People with Advanced Illnesses; and Elderly People.

This positions it as Spain's leading foundation, Europe's second-largest foundation by managed assets volume and social investment.