AT RISK OF POVERTY 1 IN 5 EUROPEANS - THE POSITION OF CYPRUS

 Filenews 16 October 2020 

More than 1 in 5 European citizens (21.1) face the risk of poverty and social exclusion, with the highest proportion found in Bulgaria (32.5%) and the lowest in the Czech Republic (12.5). Greece faces a serious problem (30%) which is in 3rd place on the relevant list, while Cyprus is ranked 10th and is above the European average.

The figures are derived from a report by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) for 2019. The 21.1% European average is equivalent to 92.4 million people and the figure is slightly worse than the 2018 figure (21.6%).

The worst performing are Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Italy and Latvia and the best Czech Republic, Slovenia, Finland, Denmark and Slovakia.

In addition, around 1 in 6 people in the EU (16.5%) income poverty compared to 16.8% in 2018. Among EU Member States, more than 1 in 5 people are at risk of income poverty in Romania (23.8%), while at the other end of the scale with the lowest rates of income poverty is the Czech Republic (10.1%).

Data also show that 1 in 17 people in the EU (5.6%) have suffered severe deprivation in 2019, which means that their living conditions have been severely affected by the lack of resources. Specifically, they were unable to pay their bills, keep their home warm enough or take a week's holiday away from home. This percentage has decreased compared to 2018 (6.1%).

Finally, according to the data, around 1 in 12 people in the EU lived in households with very low labour intensity. In particular, in 2019 8.5% of the population under the age of 60 in the EU lived in households where adults were underemployed.

Source: eyenews