Poverty risk is higher for elderly Europeans, especially women

Figures from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2008 dataset reveal that Europeans aged 65 years and over face a higher poverty risk rate (19%), compared to the total average population (17%). Results vary considerably for the 27 EU Member States, with older people facing the highest poverty risk rate in Latvia (51%) and the lowest risk rate in Hungary (4%).

What does and does not constitute poverty is a relative concept. A commonly accepted approach in generating statistics is to use household income as a measurement. Individuals struggling with poverty are defined as those that are living in households where disposable income is below the 60% threshold of the national median income. About 16 million older people is at risk of poverty, approximating one-in-five of all 85 million older people living in EU countries.

Based on this measurement, 10 of the 27 EU Member States recorded lower-than-average poverty risk rates for older people (16% or less), including the Czech Republic (7%) and Luxembourg (5%), according to European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2008 dataset, published in a policy brief prepared by the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (ECSWPR) in Austria.

A total of 9 EU countries registered close-to-average poverty risk rates (18%-23%) and the remaining 8 countries recorded higher-than-average poverty risk rates (greater than 25%). Countries in the latter category include Cyprus (49%), Estonia (39%) and Bulgaria (34%).

The figures indicate that for the majority of EU countries there has been no significant change to the poverty risk rates for older citizens over the last five years. For Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, however, the risk rate has increased considerably. Two other exceptions were recorded for Ireland and Portugal, where poverty risk rates had clearly dropped.

The statistics show that the risk of poverty for older European women is on average 6% higher than the rate for older European men (22% and 16% respectively). Except for Spain and the UK, the author notes that all countries with poverty risk rates that are greater than the EU average have noticeably higher poverty risk rates for older women. This is particularly true for older women in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania.

The publication of this policy brief comes in the framework of the European Year against Poverty and Social Exclusion, which was launched in Madrid last month, and only a few months after the publication of the last Eurobarometer survey on attitudes to poverty and social exclusion.