Eurostat has released newest statistics concerning levels of poverty in the European Union.

According to the survey, 17% of the EU27 population is at risk of poverty, that is receiving less than 60% of the national median income per equivalent adult (measured according to the number of people in the household).

In Luxembourg, there is a big gap between the youngest and the eldest populations: 20% of children aged 0-17 are at risk of poverty, and only 5% of those aged 65 and more. It is estimated that in the whole population, 13% live in poverty.

The situation is the most dramatic in Latvia, where 26% are at risk of poverty. Latvia is one of the countries which was hardest hit by the drainage of foreign capital during the so-called “economic crisis”. The unemployment rate in this country is estimated at 22,3%.

Luxembourg has also a relatively big group of so-called “working poor”, 9% of employed risk to live in poverty. Countries with the highest proportion of the “working poor” are Romania (17%), Greece (14%) Portugal and Poland (12%), and Spain and Latvia (11%).

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/