Main findings
In 2022, an estimated 24.5% of young people (15-29 years) in the European Union (EU), or approximately 17.4 million people, are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This proportion for young people varied between 37.9% in Romania and 10.5% in the Czech Republic.
The risk of poverty and social exclusion is not strictly dependent on household income level, as it also reflects unemployment, low work intensity, employment status, or various other socio-economic characteristics . To calculate the number or proportion of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, three separate measures are combined. This is aimed at people who are in at least one of her three situations:
• People at risk of poverty, in other words, people whose equivalent disposable income is below the poverty risk threshold.
• People who suffer from severe material and social deprivation, in other words, out of the 13 deprivation items (6 related to the individual and 7 related to the household) that most people consider desirable. , those who cannot afford to pay at least seven. It is even necessary to have a decent quality of life.
• People who live in households with very low labor intensity (under 65 years of age), in other words people who live in households where adults have worked 20% or less of their total potential working hours in the past 12 months.
Looking at the three components of risk of poverty and social exclusion, in 2022 the proportion of young people (15-29 years) in the EU at risk of poverty was 19.3%, but material and social exclusion was severe . The proportion of people living in households with very low deprivation and labor intensity was 6.1% and 8.7%, respectively. At EU level, the proportion of 25-29 year olds at risk of poverty and social exclusion (estimated at EU level 20.6% in 2022) is lower than for 20-24 year olds and 15-19 year olds. (26.5%). When analyzed by age group and component, the youngest age group (15–19 years) was the most vulnerable to both the risk of poverty and the material deprivation component (see Table 1). The age pattern changes in the proportion of young people living in households with very low work intensity. Most likely to live in this type of household he is 25-29 years old.
Young people at risk of poverty and social exclusion
In 2022, the proportion of young people aged 15-29 in the EU at risk of poverty or social exclusion was 24.5%, equivalent to approximately 17.4 million young people. This proportion is 2.9 percentage points (pp) higher than the 21.6% of the adult population (here considered 16 years and older).
In 2022, the EU member states with the highest proportion of young people (aged 15-29) at risk of poverty or social exclusion were Romania (37.9%), Bulgaria (32.4%) and Greece (30.7%). , the lowest percentages were found in the Czech Republic (10.5%), Slovenia (10.7%) and Malta (11.0%).
In general, people aged 25-29 (estimated at EU level 20.6% in 2022) are at greater risk of poverty and social exclusion than those aged 20-24 or 15-19 (both). The percentage of people who did so was low. 26.5%). However, in the 19 member countries, it was the 15- to 19-year-old age group that was most at risk of poverty and social exclusion. In other Member States, the 15-19 year age group appears to be at lower risk. For example, in Denmark and Finland, this age group had the lowest risk, with a relatively high margin (differences of 26.2 points and 24.9 pp, respectively, compared to member states 20 to 24 years).
Poverty risk rate among young people
Poverty risk ratio is a component of poverty risk or social exclusion rate and measures poverty in relative terms.
The poverty risk rate for 15-29 year olds in 2022 was 19.3% (see Figure 2). At EU level, the risk for young people was 2.8 percentage points higher than for the population aged 16 and over (16.5% for young people). This is the case in 17 Member States, with the largest disparity between the two age groups (15-29 and 16+) being Denmark (12.4% of the total population lives in poverty compared to 24.4% of young people). at risk), observed in Finland. (22.2% vs. 12.7%), Sweden (24.2% vs. 16.0%). However, in 10 member countries, young people were at lower risk of poverty than the population as a whole. The most significant differences were seen in Malta (10.3% vs. 16.7%), Estonia (16.9% vs. 22.8%) and Ireland (8.4% vs. 14.0%).
Severe material and social deprivation among young people
Severe material and social poverty rates complement relative poverty indicators (based on income) by taking into account non-monetary resources. It is therefore based on a single European threshold. This is an absolute measure of poverty and captures differences in living standards between EU member states. In 2022, the rate of severe material and social deprivation among young people (15-29 years) in the EU was 6.1%, compared to 6.7% of the total population. This indicator reveals that the share of young people is smaller than the share of the total population. A few exceptions include Romania, Greece, Sweden, Finland, and Germany. Among EU member states, Romania had the highest proportion of young people (aged 15-29) experiencing severe material deprivation in 2022 (25.4%), followed by Bulgaria (18.6%) and Greece (14.9%). %). In 12 Member States, less than 3.0% of young people were exposed to severe material or social poverty (see Figure 3).
An analysis of rates of severe deprivation according to young people’s age groups (see Figure 4) reveals that differences between age groups are generally smaller than those at risk of poverty. In just over half of Member States (14), the most disadvantaged category was the youngest (15-19 years), and this was also the case at EU level (6.7% in 2021 compared to 5.9% for 20-20 years). ). 24 years old, 25-29 years old he is 5.8%).
Young people living in households with very low labor intensity
Another element of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion is defined as living in a household with very low labor intensity. People living in such households are more likely to be exposed to social exclusion.
In 2022, 5.9 million people aged 15-29 in the EU will live in households with very low labor intensity, representing 8.7% of the population in this age group. See Figure 5. Among EU member states, Denmark (14.4%) had the highest proportion of people aged 15-29 living in very low labor-intensive households in 2022, followed by Finland (13.7%) and Belgium ( 11.4%). The lowest percentages were in Malta (1.8%) and Poland (2.9%). %), Slovenia (3.7%).
Source data for tables and graphs
data source
The data used in this article come from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). The legal basis for these data is Regulation No. 2019/1700 — Common Framework for European Statistics on Individuals and Households, based on individual-level data collected from a sample. EU-SILC is Europe’s main source of information on statistics on income, living conditions and social inclusion. The reference population for these data is all individual households and their current members residing in the territory of an EU member state at the time of data collection. People living in group households or facilities are excluded from the target population. The EU aggregate is a population-weighted average of the individual country figures.
context
On 25 June 2021, the European Council welcomed the EU’s main objectives of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, in line with the Porto Declaration. One of its three main goals is poverty reduction, with the main goal being to lift 15 million people out of poverty and the risk of social exclusion by 2030, of which 5 million should be children. It is.
Social inclusion was one of the eight action areas of the EU Youth Strategy, which ran from 2010 to 2018. In May 2018, the European Commission submitted a proposal for a new EU Youth Strategy for 2019-2027. This is one of our 11 goals. A new youth strategy has been adopted in 2021.