The latest report from the ILO (International Labour Organization) on poverty does not cast the European Union in a favorable light. Despite advances and anti-poverty policies initiated worldwide in recent years, the number of poor seems to be increasing… in industrialized countries. Poverty affects almost 1 in 5 people in the EU.
In its report, the ILO examines “relative poverty.” A person is considered to be in a situation of “relative poverty” if their income is less than 60% of the median income of the country in question. According to the ILO, the percentage of people in relative poverty had barely changed in the European Union between 2005 and 2008, standing at 16.5%.
However, since the 2008 crisis, things have been getting worse and worse. Already in 2012, this rate had increased by 0.3% to reach 16.8% of the population in relative poverty, and by 2014, another 0.4% had been added. By the end of 2014, according to the ILO, 17.2% of the European Union’s population was in a state of “relative poverty.” In 2014, this represented 87.2 million people.
The global situation is slowly improving
While the situation in the European Union is worsening, some countries are faring better, and their anti-poverty policies are proving effective. Thus, according to the ILO study, “only” 36% of the world’s population was in a situation of “relative poverty” in 2014, living on less than $3.10 per day. In 1990, the share of this population in the world population was 67%.
Better yet, extreme poverty (less than $1.90 per day) affects only 15% of the world population (figure from 2012) compared to 46.9% in 1990. However, eliminating poverty could come with a hefty price tag.
The ILO estimates that $10 trillion will be needed to eliminate extreme or moderate poverty by 2030. This amount represents 5 times the GDP of France and more than half the GDP of the United States.
