poverty

Nearly four in ten Romanians (38.8%) were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2016, according to a Eurostat report released Monday.

Six Romanian administrative regions, making up the entire country except the area around the capital, rank among the poorest regions in the European Union, according to Eurostat.

Women in the European Union earn on average 20% less than men for the same work, resulting in lower pensions, while 35% of women older than 65 live in poverty, according to a Tuesday hearing in the European Parliament.

Romania’s poverty rate increased to 23% from 18% in 2005-2008, when the country posted economic growth, and Romania is among countries that spend the lowest percentage of gross domestic product on social welfare, according to a report issued by the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society.

A European Union study on living conditions in the year 2008 shows that 76% of Romanians could not afford a week’s vacation away from home, 49% could not afford a personal car, and 19% could not afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every other day.

Severe poverty, an indicator referring to people whose monthly expenses total less than 100 lei (EUR1=RON3.6548), will be reduced in 2009 to 2.3-2.4% of the population and will be extremely scarce after euro adoption, Romania’s economy and finance minister Varujan Vosganian said Thursday.