TRUE OR FALSE. Are there nearly 100 million Europeans at risk of poverty, as Marie Tousaint states?

In the middle of the campaign for the European elections, the environmentalist candidate Marie Tousaint assures that “nearly 100 million Europeans are at risk of precariousness”. It’s true. Precisely 95 million Europeans are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

For her, this is one of the priorities of the campaign for the European elections. The environmentalist candidate Marie Toussaint affirmed on franceinfo, Friday April 5, that“today, nearly 100 million Europeans are at risk of insecurity“. Is this true? Can we say that almost a quarter of Europeans are at risk of poverty?

The rise in precariousness

It’s true. Some 95 million Europeans, precisely, were “threatened with poverty or social exclusion” in 2021, according to the latest Eurostat data. This represents 21.6% of the population. This indicator is broader than the poverty threshold, which we are used to using in France. The number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion counts not only all the inhabitants who live below the poverty line, that is to say with an income less than 60% of the median income, but also all the people who work less than 20% full time, or all those who “suffer from serious material and social deprivations”. People who find themselves in at least one of these three categories are considered to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

This precariousness has increased slightly since 2020 and the covid pandemic. In 2019, 92 million people were affected, compared to 95 million in 2021. Before covid, however, the trend was the opposite: poverty was declining in Europe.

One in five French people at risk of poverty or social exclusion

France is within the European average, with 21% of French people at risk of poverty or social exclusion. A level equivalent to Germany, Ireland and Portugal. The income redistribution system, including social assistance to support the poorest, helps reduce precariousness.

Romania is the poorest European country, with more than a third of residents at risk of poverty, just ahead of Bulgaria. In Romania, GDP per capita is three times lower than the European Union average. In Bulgaria it is 30% lower than the European average. These two countries, former members of the communist bloc, are among the very last to join the EU, in 2007.

On the other side of the ranking, the Czech Republic has less than 12% of inhabitants at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The country is also a former member of the Eastern bloc but, very dynamic economically, it also redistributes wealth more than its neighbors.