Poverty can effectively be reduced through social investments. Social investments refer to policies designed to strengthen people’s skills and capacities in order to enable them to participate fully in education, employment, and social life. These policies aim not only to improve the life of individuals but also the economic prospects of countries through more tax revenues from work and lower social and health expenditures. Based on insights from 20 EU research projects I argue for adopting a life course perspective on social investments to fight poverty and social exclusion in Europe. For details and recommendations check out this policy review for the European Commission.