Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter

More Attention Must Be Given To Europe’s Working Poor

Daphne Ahrendt 12th October 2017

Daphne Ahrendt

Daphne Ahrendt

In-work poverty increased during the economic and financial crisis that hit European shores in 2008. By 2014, ten per cent of European workers were at risk of poverty, up from eight per cent in 2007. Ten per cent is a significant figure: the working poor represent a substantial group that can’t be ignored. Just as disconcerting is the finding that 13 per cent of European workers are materially deprived. This latter measure helps to capture the impact of the crisis on people’s real living conditions.

A new study by Eurofound looks at what it means to be working poor and finds that in-work poverty is associated with lower levels of subjective and mental well-being, problems with accommodation, as well as poorer relationships with other people and feelings of social exclusion. This demonstrates the importance of paying particular attention to the working poor and of better documenting their social situation.

Much of the focus of governments and social partners is on getting people into work. However, having a job is not always enough to avoid poverty and in many European Union member states the number of working poor households increased during the economic and financial crisis. If no attention is paid to the incomes these workers receive and the nature of the households in which they live, this could even further increase the amount of people at risk of in-work poverty in Europe.

An outcome of the crisis has been an increase in mental health problems. Data from Eurofound’s 2016 European Quality of Life Survey shows that the working poor are more likely to report mental health problems than the working population in general: 22 per cent of those experiencing material deprivation reported having felt tense and 12 per cent felt lonely or downhearted and depressed. For the working population at large the figures are significantly lower.

Our job is keeping you informed!


Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay up to date with the latest Social Europe content.


We will never send you spam and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you!

Please check your inbox and click on the link in the confirmation email to complete your newsletter subscription.

.

Workers experiencing material deprivation are also less likely to have somebody with whom to discuss personal matters and they receive less help from relatives, friends or neighbours than their non-poor counterparts. They are also more likely to feel unrecognised by others or to say that people look down on them due to their job situation or income. Twelve per cent say they feel left out of society, compared to five per cent for the working population at large. This suggests that perceived social exclusion is a significant problem among working poor Europeans.

Housing trap

Another issue for the working poor people is poor quality housing, with all the associated risks this has with poor health. Compared to the working population at large, the working poor are nearly twice as likely to live in an overcrowded household or in a dwelling that is too dark. The cost of housing is also a serious problem for the working poor: 2014 data from Eurostat shows that for seven out of ten materially deprived workers, housing costs are a heavy burden. What is striking about this is that of all the measures examined, the cost of housing is the only one where the working-poor score even worse than the unemployed, for whom housing allowances provide some assistance.

The recorded inequalities in the living conditions of the working poor go beyond accommodation alone; it also relates to their immediate living environment. In addition to reporting lower satisfaction with the recreational or green areas in their neighbourhood, materially deprived workers more frequently report crime, violence or vandalism in their immediate environment, more pollution and more noise.

Finally and not surprisingly, working poor Europeans rate their life satisfaction lower than better-off workers.

All of this shows that in-work poverty has serious social ramifications. That is why measures are needed that aim directly at helping to improve the living standards of this group of Europeans. This can be achieved not only through direct measures such as better income support and better social protection but also through indirect measures like access to childcare and housing support. As the study shows, ignoring the situation of this significant group of European workers has serious societal implications.


We need your support


Social Europe is an independent publisher and we believe in freely available content. For this model to be sustainable, however, we depend on the solidarity of our readers. Become a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month and help us produce more articles, podcasts and videos. Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

This column is sponsored by Eurofound.
Daphne Ahrendt

Daphne Ahrendt joined Eurofound’s Living Conditions and Quality of Life Unit as a research manager in January 2013. Her current research activities focus on families in the economic crisis, social mobility and in-work poverty. She is also involved in preparing the fourth wave of the European Quality of Life Survey, which she has worked with since 2003, contributing to the design of the questionnaire and the management of the survey.

Home ・ Politics ・ More Attention Must Be Given To Europe’s Working Poor

Most Popular Posts

Boris Johnson, Brexit, Conservative,conservatism Boris Johnson: blustering onPaul Mason
deglobalisation,deglobalization,Davos Getting deglobalisation rightJoseph Stiglitz
schools,Sweden,Swedish,voucher,choice Sweden’s schools: Milton Friedman’s wet dreamLisa Pelling
world order,Russia,China,Europe,United States,US The coming world orderMarc Saxer
south working,remote work ‘South working’: the future of remote workAntonio Aloisi and Luisa Corazza

Most Recent Posts

public services,public service,women,public service workers Public services should not be the victims of inflationIrene Ovonji-Odida
gdp,gross domestic product Let’s count what really mattersJayati Ghosh
green transition,just transition,fossil fuel,energy transition,Ukraine,Russia Ukraine and the geopolitics of the energy transitionBéla Galgóczi and Paolo Tomassetti
energy,efficiency,generation,solar,price,inflation From subsidising energy to reducing dependenceHans Dubois
SPO,Rendi-Wagner,Austria,social democratic,social democrat,social democracy A social-democratic decade ahead?Robert Misik

Other Social Europe Publications

National recovery and resilience plans
The transatlantic relationship
Women and the coronavirus crisis
RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?
US election 2020

ETUI advertisement

ETUI/ETUC conference: A Blueprint for Equality

Join us at the three-day hybrid conference ‘A blueprint for equality’ (22-24 June).

The case against inequality has already been strongly articulated. Inequality is not just incidental to a particular crisis but a structural problem created by an economic model. Now is the time to explore what real equality should look like.

As a media partner of this event, Social Europe is delighted to invite you to this three-day conference, organised by the ETUI and ETUC. More than 90 speakers from the academic world, international organisations, trade unions and NGOs will participate, including the economist Thomas Piketty and the European commissioner Nicolas Schmit.


MORE INFOMATION HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Minimum wages in 2022: annual review

Nominal minimum wage rates rose significantly in 2022, compared with 2021. In 20 of the 21 European Union member states with statutory minimum wages, rates increased. When inflation is taken into account, however, the minimum wage increased in real terms in only six member states. If current inflation trends continue, minimum wages will barely grow at all in real terms in any country in 2022.


AVAILABLE HERE

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

EU Care Atlas: a new interactive data map showing how care deficits affect the gender earnings gap in the EU

Browse through the EU Care Atlas, a new interactive data map to help uncover what the statistics are often hiding: how care deficits directly feed into the gender earnings gap.

While attention is often focused on the gender pay gap (13%), the EU Care Atlas brings to light the more worrisome and complex picture of women’s economic inequalities. The pay gap is just one of three main elements that explain the overall earnings gap, which is estimated at 36.7%. The EU Care Atlas illustrates the urgent need to look beyond the pay gap and understand the interplay between the overall earnings gap and care imbalances.


BROWSE THROUGH THE MAP

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Towards a new Minimum Wage Policy in Germany and Europe: WSI minimum wage report 2022

The past year has seen a much higher political profile for the issue of minimum wages, not only in Germany, which has seen fresh initiatives to tackle low pay, but also in those many other countries in Europe that have embarked on substantial and sustained increases in statutory minimum wages. One key benchmark in determining what should count as an adequate minimum wage is the threshold of 60 per cent of the median wage, a ratio that has also played a role in the European Commission's proposals for an EU-level policy on minimum wages. This year's WSI Minimum Wage Report highlights the feasibility of achieving minimum wages that meet this criterion, given the political will. And with an increase to 12 euro per hour planned for autumn 2022, Germany might now find itself promoted from laggard to minimum-wage trailblazer.


FREE DOWNLOAD

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us on social media

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube