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84484
Fewer elderly at risk of poverty
statistikk
2012-04-25T10:00:00.000Z
Income and consumption;Social conditions, welfare and crime;Immigration and immigrants
en
inntind, Households' income, particular groups, income distribution, household income, low-income groups (for example single parents, long-term sick, supplementary benefit recipients), poor, median income, low-income limits, EU scale, OECD scaleIncome and wealth, Living conditions , Income and consumption, Income and consumption, Social conditions, welfare and crime, Immigration and immigrants
false

Households' income, particular groups, 2010

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Fewer elderly at risk of poverty

The number of elderly persons with a persistent low income dropped by almost 9 000 from the three-year period 2007-2009 to 2008-2010. At the same time, more young people face a risk of poverty.

Based on the EU's definition of persistent low income, 7.9 per cent of the population had a persistent low income (see text box below) in the period 2008 to 2010, down from 8.1 per cent in the previous three-year period. Since 2004, the proportion with a persistent low income in the population has been stable at around 8 per cent.

Elderly people (age 67 and older) constitute a falling proportion of the persistent low-income group, down from 16.9 per cent in 2004-2006 to 12.8 per cent in 2008-2010. This development can be explained by a substantial increase in the minimum state pension, more elderly participating in the labour force and new cohorts of old-age pensioners receiving earnings-related pensions to a larger extent than older cohorts of pensioners. In addition, an increasing proportion of old-age pensioners now live in couples, who in general are financially far better off than single pensioners.

More young people with low income

The proportion of young people (age 18-34) with a persistent low income has increased in recent years, from 9.6 per cent in 2004-2006 to 11.1 per cent in 2008-2010. Almost 100 000 persons in this age group face a risk of poverty. A weaker after-tax income growth than in the general population, due to falling income from work, explains most of this development. Since 2007, the importance of income from work has fallen, while various National Insurance benefits have become more important for young people.

Persistent low income

Persons are considered to have a persistent low income when their average income (per consumption unit) over a three-year period falls below the low-income threshold for the same period, i.e. the sum of equivalent income across the three years is less than the sum of the low-income threshold for the same three years.

The difference between the EU and the OECD definition is that the EU definition has a higher low-income threshold than the OECD (60 per cent of the median vs. 50 per cent of the median). In addition, the EU definition takes economies of scale within the households into account more than the OECD definition.

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