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EAPN
The European Anti-Poverty Network
EAPN
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  • What is poverty ?
    • Introduction
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Voices of Poverty

  • Who we are
    • What is EAPN?
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      • EAPN Europe Staff
      • Governing bodies
        • General Assembly (GA)
        • Executive Committee
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    • Policy areas we focus on
      • Poverty & Fundamental Rights
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  • What is poverty ?
    • Introduction
    • Poverty : what is it?
    • How is poverty measured?
    • Facts & Trends
    • Inequality : what is it?
    • Causes of poverty and inequality
    • Sources of information
    • Voices from the ground
  • Members’ Room

Introduction

Poverty in the EU Union is a very real problem which brings misery to the lives of many people, curtails their fundamental rights, limits the opportunities they have to achieve their full potential, brings high costs to society and hampers sustainable economic growth.

In spite of the overall wealth of the European Union (EU), poverty in the EU is still at a relatively high level and rapidly increasing, with 17.3% of the EU-28 population, that is almost 87 million people, at risk of relative income poverty and more than 118 million people or 23.5 % of the EU-28 population at risk of poverty and social exclusion – whether being at risk of relative poverty, severely materially deprived or living in a household with very low work intensity (source: Eurostat, January 2018).

The financial crisis, but even more so the response to the crisis through austerity measures, have clearly generated more poverty. However, the extent and seriousness of the problem is often not well understood either by policy makers or the general public. As a result, sufficient urgency is not given to its eradication. Often this is because people only think of poverty as being something which is so extreme that it threatens people’s very existence and they associate this mainly with developing countries.

However, the reality is that poverty in the EU Union is a very real problem which brings misery to the lives of many people, curtails their fundamental rights, limits the opportunities they have to achieve their full potential, brings high costs to society and hampers sustainable economic growth.

Poverty also reflects failures in the systems for redistributing resources and opportunities in a fair and equitable manner. These lead to deep-seated inequalities and thus to the contrast of excessive wealth concentrated in the hands of a few while others are forced to live restricted and marginalised lives, even though they are living in a rich economic area. Experience shows that the crisis has had the most devastating impact in the less re-distributive countries with weaker social protection systems. Moreover, austerity policies and cuts in social protection and services have pushed even more people into poverty.

The debate on poverty in the EU is often closely associated with “social exclusion”. The termsocial exclusion is used to emphasize the processes which drive people to the edge of society, which limit their access to resources and opportunities, and curtail their participation in normal social and cultural life leaving them feeling marginalised, powerless and discriminated against.

Another common term associated with poverty is “vulnerability”. People are in a vulnerable situation when their personal well-being is put at risk because they lack sufficient resources, are at risk of being in debt, suffer poor health, experience educational disadvantage, or live in inadequate housing and environment. These are important related concepts. However, not all people who are socially excluded or vulnerable are poor and EAPN in this explainer wishes to focus primarily on the specific dimensions of poverty and inequalities in the EU context.

EAPN Explainers

EAPN has developed a series of EXPLAINERS on poverty, tackling key issues and debates, which are also priorities within the EU poverty discourse, in understandable, everyday language.

They are aimed primarily at people working in civil-society organisations, but also at anybody who is concerned with how to make progress on reducing poverty and social exclusion in the EU.

  • Poverty and Inequality in the EU (2009 and updated in 2014)
  • Adequacy of Minimum Income in the EU (2010)
  • Wealth, Inequality and Social Polarisation in the EU (2011)
  • Towards Children’s Well-being in Europe –Explainer on Child Poverty in the EU (2013), jointly with Eurochild.
  • Quality of Work and Employment in the EU (2014)
  • What is poverty and how to combat it? (2020)

All of these publications are available on this website and some in several languages (see EAPN Books under News & Publications section).

  • Introduction
  • Poverty : what is it?
  • How is poverty measured?
  • Facts & Trends
  • Inequality : what is it?
  • Causes of poverty and inequality
  • Sources of information
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Poverty in the EU, a very real problem…

Please Enjoy Poverty R Lee 800x530

Poverty in the EU Union is a very real problem which brings misery to the lives of many people, curtails their fundamental rights, limits the opportunities they have to achieve their full potential, brings high costs to society and hampers sustainable economic growth.

In spite of the overall wealth of the European Union (EU), poverty in the EU is still at a relatively high level and rapidly increasing, with 16.9% of the EU population, that is about 85 million people, at risk of relative income poverty and more than 124,2 million people or 24,8 % of the population at risk of poverty and social exclusion – whether being at risk of relative poverty, severely materially deprived or living in a household with very low work intensity.

The financial crisis, but even more so the response to the crisis through austerity measures, have clearly generated more poverty. However, the extent and seriousness of the problem is often not well understood either by policy makers or the general public. As a result, sufficient urgency is not given to its eradication. Often this is because people only think of poverty as being something which is so extreme that it threatens people’s very existence and they associate this mainly with developing countries.

However, the reality is that poverty in the EU Union is a very real problem which brings misery to the lives of many people, curtails their fundamental rights, limits the opportunities they have to achieve their full potential, brings high costs to society and hampers sustainable economic growth.

Poverty also reflects failures in the systems for redistributing resources and opportunities in a fair and equitable manner. These lead to deep-seated inequalities and thus to the contrast of excessive wealth concentrated in the hands of a few while others are forced to live restricted and marginalised lives, even though they are living in a rich economic area. Experience shows that the crisis has had the most devastating impact in the less re-distributive countries with weaker social protection systems. Moreover, austerity policies and cuts in social protection and services have pushed even more people into poverty.                      

The debate on poverty in the EU is often closely associated with “social exclusion”. The term social exclusion is used to emphasize the processes which drive people to the edge of society, which limit their access to resources and opportunities, and curtail their participation in normal social and cultural life leaving them feeling marginalised, powerless and discriminated against.

Another common term associated with poverty is “vulnerability”. People are in a vulnerable situation when their personal well-being is put at risk because they lack sufficient resources, are at risk of being in debt, suffer poor health, experience educational disadvantage, or live in inadequate housing and environment. These are important related concepts. However, not all people who are socially excluded or vulnerable are poor and EAPN in this explainer wishes to focus primarily on the specific dimensions of poverty and inequalities in the EU context.

EAPN Explainers

2014 poverty explainer 6th update COVEREAPN has developed a series of EXPLAINERS on poverty, tackling key issues and debates, which are also priorities within the EU poverty discourse, in understandable, everyday language.

They are aimed primarily at people working in civil-society organisations, but also at anybody who is concerned with how to make progress on reducing poverty and social exclusion in the EU.

  • Poverty and Inequality in the EU (2009 and udpated in 2014)
  • Adequacy of Minimum Income in the EU (2010)
  • Wealth, Inequality and Social Polarisation in the EU (2011)
  • Towards Children’s Well-being in Europe –Explainer on Child Poverty in the EU (2013), jointly with Eurochild.
  • Quality of Work and Employment in the EU (2014)

All of these publications are available on this website and some in several languages (see EAPN Books under News & Publications section).

 

{jathumbnail off images=”images/stories/pictures/Covers-books-MAG-reports/2014-poverty-explainer-6th-update-COVER.png”}

In spite of the overall wealth of the European Union (EU), poverty in the EU is still at a relatively high level with 16.9% of the EU population, that is about 85 million people, at risk of relative income poverty and more than 124,2 million people or 24,8 % of the population at risk of poverty and social exclusion – whether being at risk of relative poverty, severely materially deprived or living in a household with very low work intensity.

The crisis has clearly generated more poverty. However, the extent and seriousness of the problem is often not well understood either by policy makers or the general public.  As a result, sufficient urgency is not given to its eradication.  Often this is because people only think of poverty as being something which is so extreme that it threatens people’s very existence and they associate this mainly with developing countries. 

However, the reality is that poverty in the EU Union is a very real problem which brings misery to the lives of many people, curtails their fundamental rights, limits the opportunities they have to achieve their full potential, brings high costs to society and hampers sustainable economic growth. 

Poverty also reflects failures in the systems for redistributing resources and opportunities in a fair and equitable manner. These lead to deep-seated inequalities and thus to the contrast of excessive wealth concentrated in the hands of a few while others are forced to live restricted and marginalised lives, even though they are living in a rich economic area. Experience shows that the crisis has had the most devastating impact in the less re-distributive countries with weaker social protection systems. Moreover, austerity policies and cuts in social protection and services have pushed even more people into poverty.                      

The debate on poverty in the EU is often closely associated with “social exclusion”. The term social exclusion is used to emphasize the processes which drive people to the edge of society, which limit their access to resources and opportunities, and curtail their participation in normal social and cultural life leaving them feeling marginalised, powerless and discriminated against.

Another common term associated with poverty is “vulnerability”. People are in a vulnerable situation when their personal well-being is put at risk because they lack sufficient resources, are at risk of being in debt, suffer poor health, experience educational disadvantage, or live in inadequate housing and environment. These are important related concepts. However, not all people who are socially excluded or vulnerable are poor and EAPN in this explainer wishes to focus primarily on the specific dimensions of poverty and inequalities in the EU context.

Share
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Related posts

Voices From The Ground 2021 | EAPN Video Series | #PovertyVaccine
June 25, 2021
Watch Genevieve Baert’s Messages from the 2015 PEP Meeting
July 1, 2016
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  • Who we are
    • What is EAPN?
    • Our members
    • Our structure
      • EAPN Europe Staff
      • Governing bodies
        • General Assembly (GA)
        • Executive Committee
        • Bureau
      • EU Inclusion Strategies Group
    • The way we are funded
    • Get involved
    • Contact us
  • What we do
    • How we work
    • Policy areas we focus on
      • Poverty & Fundamental Rights
      • Wealth & Inequalities
      • Employment
      • Access to Public Services
      • EU Funds
      • Participation of people experiencing poverty
      • Europe 2020 Strategy
      • The Future of Europe
    • Projects
    • Network Development
    • Campaigns & Alliances
      • Campaigns
      • Alliances & Structured dialogue
  • News & Publications
    • Press Room
      • EAPN Press releases
      • EAPN Clippings
      • National Networks Clippings
    • News
      • EAPN News
      • EAPN National Networks News
      • EU Institutions News
    • Publications
      • EAPN key documents
      • EAPN Position Papers & Reports
      • EAPN Policy toolkits & Briefings
      • EAPN Letters
      • EAPN Books
    • Upcoming Events
    • EAPN Photos & Videos
    • EU jargon explained
  • What is poverty ?
    • Introduction
    • Poverty : what is it?
    • How is poverty measured?
    • Facts & Trends
    • Inequality : what is it?
    • Causes of poverty and inequality
    • Sources of information
    • Voices from the ground
  • Members’ Room
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