The "Report Card 2026" from the National Network for Children (NMD) rates Bulgaria's care for children over the past 15 years at an average of 3.28 out of 6. The report was presented to parliament's Committee on Labour, Demographic and Social Policy.
One in three children reports violence or abuse, and more than 30% of children in Bulgaria are at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
The report draws on data from government ministries and, where there is none, on independent studies. Maria Brestnichka from the NMD secretariat said the score shows how much more the state can do. Over 15 years, she said, several big reforms have been launched, but today they look like scattered measures and separate systems that do not talk to each other.
The number of children has fallen by 80,000, which Brestnichka compared to a year and three months with no births. The share of children at risk of poverty has barely changed over the years. "Large families in Bulgaria are the poorest group, they are poorer than pensioners," she said.
Child mortality has halved, but last year a baby born in Razgrad was six times more likely to die in its first year than a baby born in Sofia. Brestnichka also said more children now go to school, but school tends to deepen inequality rather than reduce it.
On protection from violence, the score is 3.35. Donika Koleva from the Concordia foundation, which is part of the network, called for a national policy to prevent violence in schools.
Alexandrina Dimitrova, chair of the NMD management board, named the closure of the large state homes for children with disabilities and for children without parental care as a major achievement. Two remain, in Pleven and Varna, and Dimitrova hopes they will close by the end of the year. She said it is bad for children, and costs more, that twice as many children live in residential care centres as in foster families. She called for a new debate on foster care, an end to project-based funding, and a clear strategy to attract, keep and support foster families.
Student Rayna Negoycheva from Concordia presented a survey of young people. She said young people want school psychologists to do more than paperwork. They also want more classes in digital skills and media literacy. They insist on money for long-term programmes on non-violent communication, empathy and mutual respect. Negoycheva also proposed a mental health class, including for the youngest pupils.
Diana Dimitrova, an MP from Progressive Bulgaria, said that at present no one can get a referral to a psychologist, because a psychologist is not a medical professional. Anna Bodakova from Democratic Bulgaria, one of the sponsors of a bill on digital literacy in schools, described artificial intelligence as one of the drivers of online violence in recent years.
Deputy education and science minister Tanya Pancheva admitted that schools have a discipline problem, and that is why the ministry has proposed measures. She said institutions collect and share different data, which is why a single information system is being built to give early warning of children at risk.