Did you know that 1 in 5 Europeans, including 1 in 4 children, are at risk of poverty or social exclusion? Today, on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we highlight the need to tackle poverty across Europe. Earlier this year, the European Parliament called for stronger action, stressing that poverty is a violation of human dignity and that everyone should have access to basic necessities. In May, the European Commission adopted the first EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, setting out measures to prevent and tackle poverty across Europe. The strategy focuses on: • helping people afford a place to live, work and raise their families without worrying about their future • removing barriers to employment and tackling in-work poverty • fighting housing exclusion and expanding social and affordable housing • combating child poverty • supporting older people through adequate pensions and opportunities to remain in work • tackling discrimination and stigma linked to poverty. On Monday, Members of the European Parliament will debate the fight against poverty further during the plenary session in Strasbourg.
How do you objectively measure social exclusion?
Some of these numbers are rather surprising. I didn't expect Portugal to be bellow the EU average, even if by only 2 pp. As for Poland and Czechia -- I'm assuming the cost of living is lower? I'd appreciate some insight!
It’s shocking to see that the range is between 12% and 29%, it’s huge and also that on the highest rate we have some of the countries that were founders and leaders for Europe. It’s a call for action, to increase awareness and social equity .
Those statistics are a nice try, but they cannot measure the real tax evasion...Which in Greece is HUGE. So, the numbers are not accurate, even by using estimations of it.
Protecting children from poverty and guaranteeing adequate pensions for the elderly are basic pillars of a healthy democracy. Eradicating poverty is not just a social goal, but a moral imperative for a strong, united Europe. 👧🏼👴🏼💙🇪🇺 Protejarea copiilor împotriva sărăciei și garantarea unor pensii adecvate pentru vârstnici sunt piloni de bază ai unei democrații sănătoase. Eradicarea sărăciei nu este doar un obiectiv social, ci un imperativ moral pentru o Europă puternică și unită! 👧🏼👴🏼💙🇪🇺
Some of these numbers don't make sense. Example: in Hungary that number should be much higher (based on knowing my home country still). Where is this data coming from and how is it calculated????
Poverty in Portugal is at the same level as Sweden, Austria and Ireland? Show me the ways...
The European average hides significant differences between Member States. While around one in five people in the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, the figure is considerably higher in countries such as Spain. We must also consider the current economic context. Inflation, rising housing costs and wages that fail to keep pace with the cost of living are eroding the purchasing power of the middle classes, potentially pushing more households towards economic vulnerability. This raises an important question: to what extent are economic growth and employment actually translating into better living conditions? Understanding poverty requires looking beyond European averages and examining the social, economic and territorial structures that reproduce inequality, as well as the growing vulnerability of households traditionally considered economically secure. Effective policies must address not only existing poverty, but also the conditions that put more people at risk of falling into it.
Poverty is a real and major concern. In particular absolute poverty. However, the measure used here is a relative one - if you are below a certain percentage of the median you are counted as poor. If the whole income distribution shifts to the right even in real terms, poverty percentages don’t change. If in a society everybody is equally poor and thus at the median, nobody is poor with this relative measure used.