Children under 16 years:
20.2 % of children under 16 years of age are poor in Europe. The northern countries show a lower rate, from 10 % for Denmark to 12.4 % for Sweden. In return, the highest rates are observed in Romania (31.3 %) and in Bulgaria (26.4 %) or even in Spain (25.3 %). The poverty rate of young people under 16 years in France is below the European average (18.4 %).
Children are only poor because they live in a poor family. Either the family income is to low (low salaries, unemployment, job instability, part-time…), or there are too many family members sharing one (in the case of a single parent) or two incomes. Countries offering a higher level of social protection reduce partially the dependence of poverty on the family situation.
Young Adults:
The poverty rate of persons aged between 16 and 24 years is in average 21.6 % in Europe, still with the threshold at 60 %. The lowest rates are observed in the Czech Republic (12.6 %) or in Austria (13.1 %). The French poverty rate is above the European average (23.1 %). Only due to methodological reasons are the northern countries at the bottom of the ranking (see box). In turn, the situation of young people in Greece (27.8 %) is more distressing.
These rates are largely above the poverty rate for all age groups in most European countries. This can mainly be explained by the difficulty of finding an employment that in addition is stable: young people have a higher risk of holding precarious jobs, with a fixed-time contract or at part-time, and are also more exposed to unemployment. However precarious jobs have increased significantly in the last years and unemployment is soaring in some countries (the unemployment rate of young Spaniards approaches almost 50 % for example…).
Caution however: this data is highly controversial, especially due to methodological differences. Some countries do not count students, others do. In addition, countries with a high proportion of students (as in the case of northern countries) and which add them to their calculation, show mathematically higher rates of poverty: Students often live alone and it is difficult to measure the help they receive from their parents.
Working Age Adults:
14.8 % of European aged between 25 and 49 years and 13.5 % of those aged 50 to 64 years are poor. The lowest rates are observed in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and northern countries. In return, the highest rates can be found in Romania (20.3 %), in Spain (18.6 %) or in Greece (18.1 %). With rates of 13.3 % and 8.4 % France perform better than the European average in both age groups.
For all countries, these poverty rates are equivalent to the average rate including all age groups. The data on poverty in this age group reflect without doubt most appropriately the situation in Europe, for they are less sensitive to methodological differences. Its is noteworthy that especially in Bulgaria the poverty rate is lower than in countries like Greece and Spain, which have been strongly affected by the crisis, or even Italy, although the poverty thresholds are very different.
The Elderly:
15.9 % of Europeans aged 65 years or more are poor. In Hungary the rate is lowest (4.1 %), ahead of the Netherlands (5.9 %) and the Czech Republic (6.8 %). Also the French poverty rate is among the lowest in Europe (9.7 %). Conversely, the highest rate can be observed in Bulgaria (32.2 %), so 10 percentage points more than the average poverty rate of this country. Northern Europe and Austria also have great gaps between their general poverty rate and the rate for the elderly. It is at 21. 7 % in Spain and 21.4 % in the United Kingdom.
The living standard of the retired depends on the pensions they receive…The amount depends on their former professions and their income level: Those who held a low-skilled employment or who worked part-time, or those with incomplete careers (especially women), often receive lower pensions. The countries do not offer the same level of pensions for their pensioners and especially not the same minimum benefits.
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