The current cost of living is pushing more people into poverty, with almost 68% of low income...
Europe
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18/06/2013
Call for rethink on redistribution policies
Governments in Europe and the US need to re-examine the effectiveness of tax and benefit systems in redistributing income among the working-age population, says a research paper from the OECD in Paris. Redistribution measures have in the past cut income inequalities by more in Europe than in the US: but governments on both sides of the Atlantic need to look closely at how well these measures function over the whole economic cycle.
Category: Reports -
11/06/2013
Material deprivation in Europe linked to inequality
Why do European countries differ from one another much more on measures of material deprivation than on measures of income poverty? The reasons for this mismatch have been explored by researchers working on an EU-funded project.
Material deprivation plays a key role in defining the poverty and social exclusion goal of the Europe 2020 strategy, which is to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty by 20 million.
Category: Reports -
11/06/2013
Causes of in-work poverty in Europe
Country-level labour market institutions and welfare state polices have a 'small but highly significant' role in explaining how in-work poverty varies between European countries, according to a paper from an EU-funded research project.
Category: Reports -
11/06/2013
Links between employment and risk of poverty in EU
Changes in the number of jobless households don't explain very much of the diversity in poverty rates in Europe during the economic upswing prior to 2008, according to a new paper from Eurostat, the EU's statistical body.
The paper examines the distribution of individual jobs between households in EU countries, the link between individual employment rates and household employment rates, and the relationship between employment (at both levels of aggregation) and poverty.
Category: Reports -
27/05/2013
Distributional impact of public services in Europe
Estimates of poverty for particular household types are significantly altered when account is taken of the distributional impact of public services, according to a new working paper prepared by Eurostat, the European Commission's statistical body.
The paper examines the impact of including the value of public healthcare, long-term care, education and childcare in estimates of income inequality and financial poverty in 23 European countries.
Category: Reports -
24/05/2013
Comparing poverty exposure in Europe
Some 'encouraging' results have been reported from attempts to compare people's exposure to poverty across different European countries, says a paper from Eurostat, the European Commission's statistical body.
The paper describes methodological work aimed at matching expenditure data (from the Household Budget Survey – HBS) with income and material deprivation data (from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions – EU-SILC). It attempts to do this using 2005 data for the UK.
Category: Reports -
25/04/2013
Adequate benefits needed for ‘active inclusion’
Independent experts have sounded a series of warnings over the UK's progress on the active inclusion of people most excluded from the labour market. Adequate benefits, they say, are crucial to any active inclusion strategy.
The experts reviewed the coalition government's actions in 2012 on commitments given to the European Commission: their findings were initially summarised in a 'synthesis' report in January 2013, and have now been released in full.
Category: Reports -
17/04/2013
Greater equality ‘harms work incentives’
There is a 'negative and significant' link between income equality and work incentives, says a new academic study of EU countries.
The study used EUROMOD (an EU-wide microsimulation model) to disentangle the role of taxes, benefits and social insurance contributions in influencing income inequality and work incentives – the latter being indicated by marginal effective tax rates (METRs), the share of an increase in earnings lost through higher tax and social insurance contributions and/or lower benefit entitlement.
Category: Reports -
09/04/2013
Tackling child poverty in Europe
Tackling child poverty effectively requires a rights-based approach that puts children at the centre of policy-making, according to a report from two European campaign groups.
The report examines child poverty in a European context, its causes, and how it affects the lives of children and their families. It goes on to challenge a range of myths and stereotypes relating to child poverty, and highlights effective policy solutions that can help to fight it – particularly in times of austerity and public spending cuts.
Category: Reports -
25/03/2013
Call for anti-poverty strategies in EU countries
Each EU member state should develop a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy, and set 'ambitious, effective' poverty and social targets, says a European campaign network. It highlights the need to ensure that austerity measures do not drive an increase in poverty and exclusion.
The network's recommendations are based on a European Commission analysis of responses to the Europe 2020 strategy for inclusive growth, contained in the so-called 'Country-Specific Recommendations'.
Category: Reports
