5.2% of people lived in extreme poverty (i.e. at the subsistence level) in 2020 compared to 4.2% in 2019, according to data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS). The increase in extreme poverty in Poland is associated with the introduction, from March 2020, of the freezing of part of the economy and restrictions in social contacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, there was an increase in the percentage of extremely poor people from approx. 4% in 2019 to approx. 5%, with a clear decline in the level of household spending. The deterioration of the financial situation of some households and the increase in extreme poverty in Poland are related to introducing from March 2020 a freezing of a part of the economy and restrictions on social contacts in response to the emergence of the coronavirus in Poland and the development of the COVID-19 pandemic. and the pace of changes varied, but it did not change the image of the social differentiation of the extent of extreme poverty in Poland, the report reads.
The value of the relative poverty extent indicator fell to around 12% (by around 1 percentage point), and the statutory poverty rate remained at around 9%, the Office reported.
Both in the case of an increase in extreme poverty and a decrease in consumption in the household sector, the worst situation was recorded in Q2, which is associated with the introduction, from March 2020, of freezing a significant part of the economy and restrictions in social contacts in response to the appearance of coronavirus and the development of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Central Statistical Office reported that the comparison of the data on the extent of economic poverty in Poland in 2008-2020 shows that for all three types of poverty considered, the value of the poverty rates in 2020 was lower than in 2008.
According to the Central Statistical Office, the extent of extreme poverty in 2008 amounted to less than 6% and remained at this level until 2010. Over the next 5 years (2011-2015), the rate of extreme poverty was approx. 7%. In 2016, the extreme poverty rate decreased and in 2016-2020 it remained at the level of approx. 4-5%.
The extent of relative poverty decreased from less than 18% in 2008 to approximately 12% in 2020. The value of the statutory poverty rate in 2008 was less than 11%. In 2009-2012, the extent of statutory poverty was approx. 7-8%. For the next 4 years (2013-2016), the statutory poverty rate remained at 12-13%, and then fell to around 9% in 2019 and 2020, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) reported.
The most at risk of poverty were people living in households living on social benefits (apart from pensions) and agriculture, as well as large families and households with people with disabilities. The factor increasing the risk of extreme poverty was the lack or low level of education, emphasized the Central Statistical Office.
Last year, the extreme poverty rate among children and youth up to the age of 18 was around 6%, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) reported.
Extreme poverty mainly affected households of people with a low level of education. The poverty rate among households whose head had at most lower secondary education was more than twice higher than the average and amounted to approx. 12%. The percentage of poor in households was also higher than the average. persons with basic vocational education (approx. 8%). The group of households with a relatively high level of extreme poverty also included households with persons with a certificate of disability. Extreme poverty rate in households with at least one person recognized as disabled. amounted to 7.5% ” according to the report from GUS.
Extreme poverty rate – the percentage of people in households where the level of expenses (including the value of free goods and the value of natural consumption) was lower than the extreme poverty line (minimum existence), which determines the level of satisfaction of needs, below which there is a biological threat to life and psychophysical development human.
Relative poverty rate – the percentage of people in households where the level of expenditure (including the value of free goods and the value of natural consumption) was lower than the relative poverty line adopted at 50% of the average monthly expenditure determined at the level of all households, taking into account the so-called the original OECD Equivalence Scale.
Source: GUS and ISBnews
