Analytics, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Modern EU
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Friday, 29.03.2024, 09:57
Poverty and social exclusion in EU and Baltics: present situation
After
some 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 23.4% in 2016, though only 0.1 percentage points above its 2009
low-point.
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.
There are some reductions in
the share of people in the EU at risk of poverty or social exclusion; but still
over 115 million people (or over 23 per cent) are in this situation presently.
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, and living in households with very low work intensity.
Elements of poverty and social exclusion
Highest at risk of poverty or social exclusion rate in Bulgaria, lowest in the Czech Republic In 2016, more than a third of the population was at risk of poverty or social exclusion in three Member States: Bulgaria (40.4%), Romania (38.8%) and Greece (35.6%). 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 (13.3%), Finland (16.6%), Denmark (16.7%) and the Netherlands (16.8%).
Largest decrease in the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate in Poland, highest increase in Greece; among EU states, the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate has grown from 2008 in ten EU states, with the highest increases being recorded in Greece (from 28.1% in 2008 to 35.6% in 2016 or +7.5 percentage points, pp), Cyprus (+4.4 pp), Spain (+4.1 pp) and Sweden (+3.4 pp). In contrast, the largest decrease was observed in Poland (from 30.5% to 21.9%, or - 8.6 pp), followed by Latvia (- 5.7 pp) and Romania (- 5.4 pp).
At the EU level, the proportion of the total population being at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2016 (23.4%) decreased by 0.3 percentage points from 2008.
See full text at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/8314163/3-16102017-BP-EN.pdf/d31fadc6-a284-47f3-ae1c-8212a581b0c1/ Brussels, 16 October 2017.
People
at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the Baltics (2008 and 2016)
% of total
population in
thousands
2008 2016 2008 2016
Estonia 21.8 24.4 291 318
Latvia 34.2 28.5 740 554
Lithuania 28.3 30.1 910 871
Other examples…
About
1 in 6 persons in the EU is at risk of income poverty. Looking at
each of the three elements contributing to being at risk of poverty or social
exclusion, 17.2% of the EU population in 2016 was at risk of poverty after
social transfers, meaning that their disposable income was below their national
at-risk-of-poverty threshold. This proportion of persons at risk of income
poverty in the EU has slightly decreased compared with 2015 (17.3%) but is
still higher than in 2008 (16.5%). As the thresholds reflect actual income
distribution in the countries, they vary greatly among the EU states and also
over time.
Thus
in the EU, about 1 in 4 persons was at risk of income poverty in Romania
(25.3%) and about 1 in 5 in Bulgaria (22.9%), Spain (22.3%), Lithuania (21.9%),
Latvia (21.8%), Estonia (21.7%), Greece (21.2%) and Italy (19.9% in 2015).
In
contrast, the lowest rates were observed in the Czech Republic (9.7%), Finland
(11.6%), Denmark (11.9%), Slovakia (12.7%) and the Netherlands (12.8%).
Compared with 2008, the proportion of persons at risk of income poverty has
increased in twenty-one EU states, and has decreased in four states.
=
About one in 13 has been severely materially deprived. In the
EU in 2016, 7.5% 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 of persons severely
materially deprived in the EU has decreased compared with both 2015 (8.1%) and
2008 (8.5%). The share of those severely materially deprived in 2016 varied
significantly among EU states, ranging from more than 20% of the total
population in Bulgaria (31.9%), Romania (23.8%) and Greece (22.4%), to less
than 4% in Sweden (0.8%), Luxembourg (1.6%), Finland (2.2%), Denmark and the
Netherlands (both 2.6%), Austria (3.0%) and Germany (3.7%). Compared with 2008,
the proportion of persons severely materially deprived has increased in ten EU
states, and decreased in fifteen states.
=
About 1 in 10 is living in households with very low work intensity. As to
the low work intensity, 10.4% 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. It is the second year in a row since 2008 that this
proportion decreased in the EU. Ireland (19.2% in 2015), Greece (17.2%), Spain
(14.9%), Belgium (14.6%) and Croatia (13.6%) had the highest proportions of
those living in very low work intensity households, while Estonia (5.8%),
Poland (6.4%) and Slovakia (6.5%) had the lowest.
Compared
with 2008, the share of persons aged 0-59 living in households with very low
work intensity has increased in a majority of the EU states (in eighteen
countries), while it decreased in seven states.
=
The at-risk-of-poverty
rate is the share of people whose total household income that is
available (after social transfers, tax and other deductions) for spending or
saving is below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, which is set at 60% of the
national median equivalised disposable income after social transfers.
This
indicator does not measure wealth or absolute poverty, but low income in
comparison to other residents in that country shows the risk of poverty. The threshold
depends on the income distribution in a country for a given year and varies
with the composition of a household. It is therefore important to note that the
at-risk-of-income-poverty rate is a relative measure of poverty and that the
threshold varies greatly between EU states. It also varies over time as it
follows the evolution of the national median disposable income: in a number of EU
states the threshold has fallen over the period 2008-2016 (e.g. in Greece,
Cyprus and Ireland) or stayed nearly stable (e.g. in Spain, Italy and Portugal)
due to the economic crisis.
Risk-of-poverty
thresholds in Baltics (in €), Poland (in zloty) & Finland: 2008 and 2016
Annual national median Annual
at-risk-of-poverty threshold
equivalised disposable
income Single adult Two adults with two
(after social
transfers) children younger than 14 years
2008 2016 2008 2016 2008 2016
Estonia 5 547 8 645 3 328 5 187 6 989 10 892
Latvia 4 740 6 365 2 844 3 819 5 972 8 019
Lithuania
4 111 5 645 2 467 3 387 5 180 7 113
Poland 15
720 24 618 9 432 14 771
19 807 31 018
Finland
19 794 23 650 11 876 14 190 24 940 29 799