Low-skilled people face higher risk of poverty

Improving educational levels and promoting social inclusion, especially by reducing poverty, are shared objectives which guide the action of the Member States and of the European Union (European Council, 25/26 March 2010).

Education and poverty are related in many ways.  The indicator presented here is the percentage of population at risk of poverty by level of education.

Key points:

• In the EU, 24% of the low-skilled population is at risk of poverty.  The risk of poverty is much smaller for people with medium or high level of education (respectively 13% and 6%).
  
• This means that the risk of poverty for the low-skilled is almost twice as high as for the medium-skilled (and four times as high as for the high-skilled).
  
• The risk of poverty for the low-skilled is highest in Latvia (43%) and Bulgaria (39%) and lowest in Denmark (15%) and the Netherlands (11%).
  
• Compared to the population with medium level of education, the relative risk of poverty for the low-skilled is particularly high in Bulgaria (3.5 times higher).  In the Netherlands, the risk of poverty for low and medium-skilled people is approximately equal (relative risk=1).

Notes:
The population at risk of poverty is defined as the population with an equivalised disposable income below the risk-of-poverty threshold. The  risk-of-poverty threshold is set at 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income (after social transfers).

The population considered is the population aged 18 and over.

The data originate from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions and are subjected to its method.