What is the prevalence of social exclusion in Europe? 

As far as the quantification of the number and profile of excluded people, the Supporting document to the Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion, 2007 provides the main following data:

  • In 2004, the average at-risk-of-poverty rate in the EU was 16%, while national figures ranged from 9% to 21%. In most countries, the at-risk-of-poverty rate (for the population aged 16 or more) was higher for women.
  • The young have the highest at-risk-of-poverty rate, at 19% for children aged 0-17, and 18% for the 18-24 age groups. The at-risk-of-poverty rate then decreases with age as individuals progress in the labour market, before it rises again after people retire and cannot rely anymore on income from work. One person households and those with dependent children tend to have the highest poverty risk, with the highest poverty rate affecting single parents with one dependent child (33% in the EU as a whole).
  • Long-term unemployment is one of the major indicators for exclusion. The most recent Eurostat figures (percentage of the population in long-term unemployment) shows that in the EU-27 long-term unemployment is at 3,7%, with big diversity from 0,8% in Denmark to 10,2% in Slovakia.