COVID-19 pandemic sent another million people in Italy below the poverty line last year, according to a survey published on Thursday by ISTAT, AFP reports.
The number of those below this threshold has reached 5.6 million – a record in the last 15 years -, ie 9.4% of the population, compared to 7.7% in 2019.
The percentage far exceeds the poverty rate recorded at the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008 (3%).
Poverty growth has been particularly sharp in the rich north of Italy, where 720,000 people have become among those whose monthly spending is below the threshold considered minimal in terms of living conditions.
In the north, the poverty rate reached 9.4% compared to 6.8% in 2019.
Absolute poverty line differs in Italy from one region to another, going from 839.75 euro / month for a single person in a northern metropolitan area to 566.49 euro / month in a small southern town.
The south keeps the highest percentage of people below the poverty line, 11.1% of the population compared to 10.1% in 2019.
1.472.000 persons or 16.9% of the population in Austria were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2019, as Statistics Austria reports.
They belonged to the social target group of the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy because of low household income (1.161.000 persons or 13.3%), severe material deprivation (223.000 persons or 2.6%) or low work intensity of the household (507.000 persons below the age of 60, or 7.8%).
Since these categories can overlap, the total number of persons at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion is lower than the sum of the three individual indicators.
Compared to the year before, data showed only a minor, statistically insignificant decrease of the number of people affected (2018: 17.5% or 1.512.000 persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion). However, since 2008, the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions EU-SILC show a declining trend: In total, 227.000 persons less were reported to be at risk of being poor or socially excluded.
303.000 children and youths below the age of 18 were among those affected by poverty or social exclusion
303.000 children and youths below the age of 18 were among those affected by poverty or social exclusion in 2019. Not only did their households belong to this group, but they were also excluded from social participation in their own life spheres.
Children up to 15 years were more likely to not invite friends to play or eat due to financial reasons if their households were at risk of poverty or social exclusion: 8% of children from those households could not afford such invitations, as compared to only 2% of all other children.
Also regular leisure activities that come with costs like sports or music lessons could be followed less by those affected by poverty risks: 22% could not afford such activities for their children whereas only 3% with no poverty risk reported so.
36% of all under 18-year-olds from households at risk of poverty or social exclusion did not have access to a computer at home, but only 10% of their peers.
Every fourth person (27%) coming from a family background with low educational attainment (both parents only had a compulsory school degree or none at all) managed to finish only compulsory schooling themselves, potentially leading to lower income and lack of social participation.
In contrast, only 6% had the lowest educational attainment if at least one of their parents had a higher degree. Compared to persons from families with higher education, the risk of poverty or social exclusion was 1.4 times higher for those coming from families with a low educational background.
In 2019, the average monthly poverty line for Bulgaria is 413.04 BGN average per person. The number of persons who are below this line is 1.586.200 representing 22.6 % of the population, Money Buzz! learned from the latest data published by the National Statistic Institute of Bulgaria.
Compared to the previous year, the poverty line increased by 17.6% and the relative share of the poor population increased by 0.6 percentage points.
The social protection system contributes considerably to the poverty decrease. According to 2019 data, if the income from pensions is included into the household’s income and the rest social transfers are excluded, the poverty level increases from 22.6% to 29.6%, or by 7.0 percentage points.
And respectively, if the pensions and the rest of the social transfers are excluded, the poverty level increases up to 42.2%, or by 19.6 percentage points.
The main factor influencing the risk of poverty for the prevailing part of the population is the economic activity and participation in the labour market.
For the observed period, the share of poor is highest among the unemployed (58.9%) and the risk of poverty for unemployed male is 14.2 percentage points higher than for unemployed female.
Educational level influences the risk of poverty
Educational level influences considerably the risk of poverty for employed. Highest is the share of working poor with primary and without education – 55.5%.
The increase of educational level decreases the share of poor among employed with primary education about 2 times and more than 7 times for those with secondary education. The share of working poor with tertiary education is 2.5%.
Poverty is more present in some specific households
Poverty estimates by type of household show that poverty is concentrated among elderly single-person households older than 65 years, single parents with children and households with three or more children.
Compared to the previous year, in 2019 highest is the decrease of the risk of poverty among households of two adults with three or more dependent children – a decrease of 4.6 percentage points.
Share of poor is lowest among households with two adults with one child (10.7%) and two adults aged below 65 years (13.5%).
Among single-person households the risk of poverty is 14.5 percentage points higher for female than for male.
Moreover, the risk of poverty among single-person households varies according to the household member age – it is 31.0 percentage points higher for persons aged 65 and over than for those aged below 65 years.
Poverty at regional level
Lowest poverty threshold in 2019 is observed in districts Montana and Pazardzhik – 268 and 292 BGN respectively, and the highest – in district Sofia (stolitsa) – 589 BGN, followed by districts Pernik (475 BGN) and Stara Zagora (459 BGN).
Highest share of people at-risk-of-poverty is observed in districts Sliven – 30.1%, Kyustendil – 28.8%, Vratsa 27.7%, and Yambol – 27.4%.
Lowest is the share of people at-risk-of-poverty in districts Pleven – 14.3%, Blagoevgrad – 16.5%, Sofia – 16.8%, and Lovech – 18.5%.
The poverty threshold in 2019 increased compared to 2018 in the all districts. The highest growth was recorded in the districts of Razgrad (by 37.2%), Vratsa (by 34.9%), Lovech (34.7%), Pernik (by 34.6%), Smolyan and Silistra by 33.4% each.
The lowest increases were observed in the districts of Yambol (by 1.6%), Pleven (by 5.8%), Plovdiv (by 6.6%), and Haskovo (by 8.8%).
The lowest share of poor for male – 11.8%, is observed in district Pleven, while the highest one – in district Silistra – 28.8%. Lowest is the at-risk-of-poverty rate for female in district Blagoevgrad – 15.6%, compared to highest in district Kyustendil and Sliven – 31.6%.
In districts Gabrovo, Ruse, Smolyan, Yambol, Sofia, Haskovo, Kyustendil and Varna the share of female atrisk-of-poverty is more than 5 p.p. higher than of male.
In 8 districts – Montana, Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo, Vidin, Kardzhali, Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik and Silistra the share of poor male is higher than the share of poor female.
