Counting Costs Of Recession In EU
- December 14th, 2010
- Posted by EUEditor
Nearly 25% of EU citizens are poor or cash strapped, or hard-hit by unemployment, and migrant workers are finding it much harder to send money home – in statistics released this week (13.12.10).
HARD UP FINDING A EURO
Unfortunate times for seven million of the 500 million population of the 27 countries of the European Union, where a new survey has identified large numbers struggling against poverty, “materially deprived†so they struggle meeting basic bills, or hit by unemployment.
The Eurostat study shows that 116 million people, almost a quarter of the EU population, were affected by at least one of the three forms of social exclusion.
The Eastern European and Balkan regions were most adversely placed; Bulgaria (with 45% of the population affected in some way), Romania (44%), Latvia (34%) and Poland (31%),
Joblessness however was prominent in the West. On “low work intensityâ€, 34 million Europeans were living in households where the adults worked less than 20% of their total work potential during the past years, led by Ireland (14%), and Hungary, Belgium and Germany (all 12%).
The unfortunate seven million are those who experience all three of the negative conditions identified in the EU survey, based on figures from 2008.
This down-side of life in a wealthy part of the world, by all recognised standards, is most sensitive to events such as the unwinding that occurred with the Global Financial Crisis.
REMITTANCES TO OUTSIDE COUNTRIES
For Europe’s large population of migrants and expatriates, a key indicator is the amount of money being remitted to the old country, as often as not through shop-front exchange offices — post offices, Western Union and several others.
Money sent by migrants to their country of origin fell by 7% in 2009, with total transfers at €30-billion, says a second Eurostat survey just released (13.12.10).
A trend towards increases year by year, in recent times, was reversed by the financial crisis.
Extracts:
“Total EU27 outflows amounted to €30.3 billion euro in 2009, compared with €32.6 bn in 2008 (-7%).
The outflow of workers’ remittances was highest in 2009 in Spain (€7.1 bn or 22% of total EU27 remittances), Italy (6.8 bn or 21%), Germany (3.0 bn or 9%), France (2.8 bn or 9%) and the Netherlands (1.5 bn or 5%) – the survey reported.
DETAILS ON POVERTY, HARDSHIP, UNEMPLOYMENT
Further details from the survey on the measures of poverty, “material deprivation†and unemployment:
“As regards income poverty, 81 million persons (or 17% of the population) in the EU27 in 2008 were at risk of poverty after social transfers, meaning that their disposable income was below their national at-risk-of-poverty threshold5. Latvia (26%), Romania (23%) and Bulgaria (21%) had the highest at risk-of-poverty rates, and the Czech Republic (9%), the Netherlands and Slovakia (both 11%) the lowest.
“42 million people in the EU27 severely materially deprived
“In the EU27, 42 million (or 8% of the population) were severely materially deprived, meaning that they had living conditions constrained by a lack of resources such as not being able to afford to pay their bills, keep their home adequately warm, own a car or a telephone etc5. The shares of those materially deprived varied significantly among Member States, with the highest in Bulgaria (41%) and Romania (33%), and the lowest in Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Spain (all less than 3%).
“34 million people in the EU27 lived in households with low work intensity
“Regarding the indicator on low work intensity, 34 million (or 9% of the population aged 0-59) in the EU27 lived in households where the adults worked less than 20% of their total work potential during the past year5. Ireland (14%), Hungary, Belgium and Germany (all 12%) had the largest proportions of those living in low work intensity households, and Cyprus (4%), Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Estonia and Sweden (all 5%) the lowest.â€
Reference
Eurostat, Brussels, “Income and living conditions in Europe In the EU27, 116 million people were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2008â€, 13.12.10, STAT/10/190. (Contacts and further information:   Tim Allen, Louise Corselli-Norblad, +352-4301-33 444, [email protected]; further on the data: Pascal Wolff, +352-4301-33 660. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat, (13.12.10).
Eurostat, Brussels, “Workers’ remittances in the EU27 Money sent by migrants to their country of origin fell by 7% in 2009 …â€, 13.12.10, STAT/10/191.