The persistent risk of poverty by household type

Older people (aged 65 and over) living alone, almost all of whom are in retirement, are especially vulnerable to being at persistent risk of poverty: the proportion with income persistently below 60% of the median averages around 19% in the EU Member States for which there are data (Table 5). In Slovenia and Denmark, the proportion is around 45%, in Estonia and Cyprus it is over 60%, and in Latvia over 75%.

Lone parents, who are predominantly women, are also particularly vulnerable: across the EU as a whole, some 22% have income that is persistently below the poverty threshold. In Luxembourg, the proportion is around 45%, and in another three countries (Belgium, Estonia and Lithuania) it is over 30%. In some countries, however, the persistent risk of poverty is also high among those under 65 living alone without children, the proportion at persistent risk exceeding 25% in Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia, and being only slightly below that figure in Bulgaria, Estonia and Portugal.

See Tables