Combating poverty and social exclusion; a statistical portrait of the European Union 2010 (NEW UPDATE)
Each year, since 1983, the European Parliament and the Council have focused attention on different specific annual themes. The year of 2010, was the European year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion designed to promote an inclusive Europe. This inclusive growth is an important element of the EU 2020 strategy which aims to realise a smart, sustainable and inclusive European economy.
It is a tradition for Eurostat to draw on a wide range of data to publish a statistical portrait of the European Union. This report is specially dedicated to the European year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
What do we mean by poverty:
The European Union defines poverty as following: ‘people are said to be living in poverty if their income and resources are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living considered acceptable in the society in which they live. Because of their poverty they may experience multiple disadvantages through unemployment, low income, poor housing, inadequate health care and barriers to lifelong learning, culture, sport and recreation. They are often excluded and marginalised from participating in activities (economic, social and cultural) that are the norm for other people and their access to fundamental rights may be restricted’. Ethnic minorities are often victim to poverty. Within the European Union the Roma are at large scale confronted with problems of poverty.
What do we mean by Social Exclusion:
The European Union defines Social exclusion as following: ‘A process whereby certain individuals are pushed to the edge of society and prevented from participating fully by virtue of their poverty, or lack of basic competencies and lifelong learning opportunities, or as a result of discrimination. This distances them from job, income and education opportunities as well as social and community networks and activities. They have little access to power and decision-making bodies and thus often feeling powerless and unable to take control over the decisions that affect their day to day lives’. Like mentioned in the definition individuals are sometimes victim of discrimination. This seems often the case with ethnic minorities and immigrants.
An overview of the broad range of statistics on poverty and social exclusion in the Member States
This report presents an overview of the broad range of statistics that are available to the European Commission, national governments and individuals on teh topic poverty and social exclusion. These statistics can be used for policy purposes and general interest.