As a recent 'poor' pensioner who manages very well on his 'low' income, I
have no trouble accepting the 5 per cent figure for the UK. However, I
suspect that members of the poverty lobby in the UK, within academia and
pressure groups, will be ready to take issue with it. They need not worry
though -- elsewhere in the report there's a return to the consensus among
them that brings a 30 per cent figure back in the frame.
Paul Ashton
http://www.eastb.freeserve.co.uk/Paul-Ashton.htm
--- On Thu, 28/1/10, Annette Hexelschneider <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Sorry for any cross-posting
> ---
>
> I would like to draw your attention to our latest Policy
> Brief "Poverty Risks for Older People in EU Countries – An
> Update" written by Asghar Zaidi.
>
> Abstract:
> This Policy Brief provides the latest evidence on how EU
> countries differ in terms of poverty risks for older people
> (aged 65 years and over).
>
> Results using the latest EU-SILC data for 2008 show that,
> on average, older people face a higher poverty risk rate
> than the total population: the rate for older people was 19%
> as opposed to rate for the total population of 17%. The
> highest poverty risk rates were observed in Latvia (51%),
> Cyprus (49%), Estonia (39%) and Bulgaria (34%), and the
> lowest in Hungary (4%), Luxembourg (5%) and the Czech
> Republic (7%).
>
> In general, countries with low poverty risk rates for older
> people have a good social safety net in the form of a basic
> pension (e.g. the Netherlands) and/or they offer strong
> redistribution in the earnings-related contributory pension
> schemes in the form of minimum guaranteed pensions (e.g.
> Austria).
>
> A broader picture is provided by the material deprivation
> rate, which measure deprivation in more absolute terms. On
> average, 16% of older population in EU27 could be considered
> materially deprived during 2008, and only about one third of
> the income poor were also disadvantaged by material
> deprivation. Thus, out of 16 million older people identified
> as at risk of poor, only about 5 million were also
> materially deprived.
>
> Not surprisingly, there are wide variations across
> countries with respect to the proportion of those who are
> materially deprived and also face the risk of monetary
> poverty. The highest levels were registered in Bulgaria
> (73%), Romania (57%), and Latvia (50%), and the lowest in
> Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK (all, 5% or
> less).
>
> A subsequent Policy Brief will provide a glimpse into the
> future by analysing the impact of pension reforms.
>
>
> More: http://www.euro.centre.org/detail.php?xml_id=1657
>
>
> Please feel free to forward the Policy Brief to colleagues
> who might be interested.
>
>
>
>
> Best regards,
> Annette Hexelschneider, Dipl.-Ing.
> Head of Knowledge and Information Management Support Unit
> European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
> Berggasse 17
> A-1090 Vienna (Austria)
> Tel: +43-1-319 45 05-23
> Fax: +43-1-319 45 05-19
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.euro.centre.org
> http://www.euro.centre.org/hexelschneider
>
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