Czech Republic Second Least At Risk Of Poverty Among EU Member States

Photo: Prague, credit: KK / Brno Daily.

Brno / Czech. Rep., Feb 9 (BD) – According to data published by the EU statistical authority Eurostat on the last day of January, 1 in 10 employed people over the age of 18 in the EU were at risk of poverty.

In 2018, this figure rose to 9.5%, an increase of just under 1% in 10 years.

There is a small difference between men and women – in 2018, 9.9% of men were at risk of poverty compared to 9.1% of women.

Permanent vs Temporary Workers: Who Is More At Risk?

Part-time workers and people employed on temporary contracts are more likely to face in-work poverty. In 2018, part-time workers in the EU had a 15.7% chance of falling into poverty, compared to 7.8% of full-time workers. Furthermore, employees with temporary contracts were almost three times more at risk (16.2%) than employees with permanent jobs (6.1%).

Highest In-work Poverty In Romania, Lowest In Finland

Chart: Share of employed persons at risk of poverty in the EU in 2018. Source: Eurostat, Jan 31, 2020.

The Czech Republic is the second least affected by poverty, with just 3.4%, behind only Finland.

Luxembourg has seen the largest increase of in-work poverty, while Greece has seen the largest decrease. Photo credit: Freepik.

Over the last few years the member states with the highest increase in risk of in-work poverty were Luxembourg, with 4.3 pp (percentage points), Italy with 3.2 pp, and the UK with 2.8 pp.

The highest decrease was seen in Greece (-3.3 pp), Latvia and Romania (both with -2.4 pp) and Portugal (-2.1 pp).

Table: Five EU countries least threatened by poverty / proportion of employed persons at risk of poverty, 2018. Source: Eurostat.

1Finland3,1%
2Czechia3,4%
3Ireland4,9%
4Belgium and Croatia5,2%
5Denmark 5.4%

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