Germany: Poverty rate reaches new high

According to the German Equal Welfare Association the poverty rate in Germany reached a new high of 16.1 percent in the pandemic year 2020.

Berlin - Income poverty has increased, especially among the self-employed, the association announced on Thursday. The poverty report of the association also shows strong regional differences: While the two southern German states Bavaria and Baden-Wrttemberg have a common poverty rate of 12.2 percent, the other federal states show a common poverty rate of 17.7 percent. According to the study, the gap between Bavaria (11.6 percent) and the worst-placed state of Bremen (28.4 percent) is now 16.8 percentage points.

The association also complained that the general consequences of the pandemic had hit the poor "much harder". Even if the short-time working allowance in particular, but also the Unemployment Benefit I "certainly worked as an instrument of poverty reduction", it is mainly the employed who are the "income losers" of the crisis. This is also reflected in the poverty rates: While the micro-census survey of 2019 counted a total of eight percent among the employed and nine percent poor among the self-employed, the 2020 survey found 8.7 percent among the employed and 13 percent with the self-employed.

The poverty report of the German Equal Welfare Association works with official statistics, including an evaluation of the microcensus of the Federal Statistical Office.

Source: Der Newsticker

Photo: fmimalta.com