In Real Economy this week Maithreyi Seetharaman looks at the challenges governments face in tackling poverty with the help of some of those closest to the issue.<\/p>\n
The shocking truth is that according to Eurostat, the official EU statistics agency, around a quarter of Europe\u2019s population are now at risk of falling into poverty. That adds up 122 million people in the Europe we think of as developed.<\/p>\n
Women and children are the groups most vulnerable to poverty in the 21st century. Real Economy will ask why that should be and what can be done about it.<\/p>\n
Firstly though, we have to distinguish between two different definitions of poverty.<\/p>\n
Poverty \u2013 Crash Course
\nFirstly , there are almost one billion people in the world living on less than two dollars a day. They have little food and water, no real housing, few clothes and no medicine.
\nFor these people it\u2019s a daily struggle to stay alive.<\/p>\n
These people a living in ABSOLUTE poverty.<\/p>\n
Secondly, there are those people who, in their respective countries, earn or receive, less than what is needed to maintain a minimum standard of living.<\/p>\n
They may struggle to meet basic needs like food, housing and medical expenses.<\/p>\n
These people are living in RELATIVE poverty, and it is these people, and people at risk of joining them, that Real Economy is looking at this week.<\/p>\n
Reducing poverty
\nThe EU\u2019s goal is to bring 20 million people out of relative poverty by 2020.<\/p>\n
But the financial crisis over the past eight years has put more people at risk of falling into poverty, especially women. A quarter of women across the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion (Eurostat).<\/p>\n