The current cost of living is pushing more people into poverty, with almost 68% of low income...
Europe
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17/10/2012
‘Worrying increase’ in child poverty in EU
A 'worrying increase' in child poverty and social exclusion is putting at risk the well-being of children in the European Union, both now and in the future. That is one of the main conclusions of an independent review prepared for a meeting of European poverty experts.
The paper looks at the current situation in relation to child poverty, social exclusion and well-being in the EU, and identifies a series of key challenges.
Category: Reports -
11/10/2012
What drives growing inequalities?
Growing income and wealth inequalities in European and other developed countries are being driven by a complex range of factors, according to researchers working on a European Commission-funded project. Their report summarises the findings of a number of separate studies looking at inequalities in income, wealth and education.
Category: Reports -
11/10/2012
Improved measures of material deprivation in EU
Improvements have been proposed in the way material deprivation is measured in European Union countries. The changes are designed to aid the monitoring of social objectives at both national and EU levels.
Researchers have put forward a new material deprivation indicator for the whole EU population, and also a child-specific indicator (for those aged 1–15). Their work draws on data collected in the 2009 wave of EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions). 'Material deprivation' is based on the affordability of a selection of items (goods or services) considered to be necessary or desirable for people to have an 'acceptable' standard of living in the country where they live.
Category: Reports -
04/10/2012
EU calls for renewed effort on tackling child poverty
Tackling child poverty must continue to be a key part of the social dimension of the 'EU 2020' strategy, according to a statement adopted by the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 4 October 2012.
Category: Reports -
03/10/2012
Paradox in attitudes to inequality and redistribution
People living in unequal societies are more likely to support redistribution, but this may not always translate into political action, according to a European research project. A new paper summarises different strands in the project's findings on how inequalities in income and wealth affect 'political and cultural' outcomes – including people's perceptions of inequality, and their attitudes to redistribution.
Category: Reports -
03/10/2012
Gender a ‘prime factor’ in poverty in Europe
Gender is a prime factor in explaining why some people are at risk of poverty rather than others, according to new European study. The authors adopt a gender perspective on poverty – in terms of both income poverty and poverty as a multi-dimensional phenomenon.
Category: Reports -
20/09/2012
How welfare affects the ‘inheritance’ of poverty
Intergenerational factors have the biggest influence on income poverty in 'liberal' and southern European welfare regimes, according to a study funded by the European Commission.
The study analysed the relationship between poverty and social exclusion (on the one hand) and parental characteristics and childhood economic circumstances (on the other), using data from the EU-SILC 2005. It compared findings from one-dimensional and multi-dimensional approaches to poverty and social exclusion, in order to assess how far different welfare regimes affect the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage.
Category: Reports -
20/09/2012
Link between in-work poverty and low pay is complex
There is no simple link between in-work poverty and low pay in European countries, finds a study funded by the European Commission. Tackling in-work poverty is therefore not as straightforward as simply raising minimum wages, it concludes.
The study looked at the variation in in-work poverty across European countries and over time, using data from EU-SILC.
Category: Reports -
18/09/2012
Child benefits ‘help tackle in-work poverty’
Child benefits have made an important contribution to tackling child poverty among working families in Europe, according to a new study funded by the European Commission. The study looks at the role of child benefit 'packages' – cash and tax benefits – in lifting working families out of poverty over the period 1992–2009.
Category: Reports -
06/09/2012
Can poverty be measured with income satisfaction data?
It may be possible to track poverty by reference to data on income satisfaction, according to a researcher in Germany. He sets out the results of matching survey data against existing poverty measures, such as the European Commission's '60 per cent of median income' measure.
Category: Reports
