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Saturday, 20.04.2024, 04:16
Share of Baltic residents at risk of poverty higher than EU average – Eurostat
This means
that they were in at least one of the following three conditions: at risk of
poverty after social transfers (income poverty), severely materially deprived
or living in households with very low work intensity. After three consecutive
increases between 2009 and 2012 to reach almost 25%, the proportion of persons
at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU has since continuously
decreased to 22.5% last year, 1.2 percentage points below its 2008
reference-point and 1 percentage point below the 2016 level. The reduction of
the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU is one
of the key targets of the Europe 2020 strategy.
Highest at risk of poverty or social exclusion
rate in Bulgaria, lowest in the Czech Republic
In 2017, more
than a third of the population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion in
three Member States: Bulgaria (38.9%), Romania (35.7%) and Greece (34.8%). At
the opposite end of the scale, the lowest shares of persons being at risk of
poverty or social exclusion were recorded in the Czech Republic (12.2%),
Finland (15.7%), Slovakia (16.3%), the Netherlands (17.0%), Slovenia and France
(both 17.1%) and Denmark (17.2%).
Largest decrease in Poland, highest increase in
Greece
Among
Member States for which 2017 data are available, the at risk of poverty or
social exclusion rate has grown since 2008 in ten Member States, with the
highest increases being recorded in Greece (from 28.1% in 2008 to 34.8% in
2017, or +6.7 percentage points), Italy (+3.4 pp), Spain (+2.8 pp), the
Netherlands (+2.1 pp), Cyprus (+1.9 pp) and Estonia (+1.6 pp). In contrast, the
largest decrease was observed in Poland (from 30.5% to 19.5%, or -11.0 pp),
followed by Romania (-8.5 pp), Latvia (-6.0 pp) and Bulgaria (-5.9 pp).
About 1 in 6 persons in the EU at risk of income
poverty…
Looking at
each of the three elements contributing to being at risk of poverty or social
exclusion, 16.9% of the EU population were at risk of poverty after social
transfers in 2017, meaning that their disposable income was below their national
at risk of poverty threshold. This proportion has slightly decreased compared
with 2016 (17.3%) but is still higher than in 2008 (16.6%). As the thresholds
reflect actual income distribution in the countries, they vary greatly both
between Member States and over time.
Across the EU Member States, more than 1 in 5 persons were at risk of income poverty in Romania (23.6%), Bulgaria (23.4%), Lithuania (22.9%), Latvia (22.1%), Spain (21.6%), Estonia (21.0%), Italy (20.3%) and Greece (20.2%). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in the Czech Republic (9.1%), Finland (11.5%), Denmark and Slovakia (both 12.4%), the Netherlands (13.2%), France and Slovenia (both 13.3%) and Hungary (13.4%).
Compared with 2008, the proportion of persons
at risk of income poverty has increased in nineteen Member States, for which
data are available, remained stable in one and decreased in seven.
… 1 in 14 severely materially deprived…
In the EU in 2017, 6.9% of the population were severely materially deprived, meaning that they had living conditions constrained by a lack of resources such as not being able to afford to pay their bills, keep their home adequately warm, or take a one week holiday away from home. This proportion has decreased compared with both 2016 (7.5%) and 2008 (8.5%). The share of those severely materially deprived in 2017 varied significantly among Member States, ranging from 30.0% in Bulgaria, 21.1% in Greece and 19.7% in Romania, to less than 4% in Sweden (1.1%), Luxembourg (1.2%), Finland (2.1%), the Netherlands (2.6%), Denmark (3.1%), Malta (3.3%), Germany (3.4%), Austria and the Czech Republic (both 3.7%).
Compared with 2008, the proportion of persons severely materially
deprived has increased in nine Member States for which data are available, and
decreased in eighteen.
…and 1 in 11 living in households with very low
work intensity
Looking at low work intensity, 9.3% of the population aged 0-59 in the EU lived in households where the adults worked less than 20% of their total work potential during the past year. This proportion has decreased significantly compared with 2016 (10.5%) and is close to the 2008 level (9.2%). Ireland (18.2% in 2016), Greece (15.6%), Belgium (13.5%), Croatia (13.0% in 2016), Spain (12.8%), and Italy (11.8%) had the highest proportions of those living in very low work intensity households, while Slovakia (5.4%), the Czech Republic (5.5%), Poland (5.7%), Estonia (5.8%) and Slovenia (6.2%) had the lowest.
Compared with 2008,
the share of persons aged 0-59 living in households with very low work
intensity has increased in eighteen Member States for which data are available,
and decreased in nine.