Eurofound Report: “Working Poor in Europe”

According to this report, published by Eurofound on 15th April, young people are the most fragile group of workers in the EU. Although employment is often seen as the best way out of poverty, collected data indicate that as many as 6% of employees and 18% of self-employed people can be classified as poor. Young people are the most vulnerable in most European countries.

On average, in the EU, 9% of young workers (18-24 years) fall into the definition of working poor, a figure that decreases for older groups. This is due to the fact that young people tend to start their careers with low-paid jobs. The trend of young people being most at risk of in-work poverty is most evident in nine countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden and the UK. It is not the case, however, in Austria, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain. In these countries, it seems that young people leave their home later and are more likely to receive income support from other members of their household.

Both gender and education also have an impact. In-work poverty risk decreases with higher levels of education and is higher for women (10%) than for men (9%) in the EU25 average. The latter is explained by the existing gender segregation of the labour market.

More information:

http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2010/25/en/1/EF1025EN.pdf