15.7% families in Finland at risk of poverty

About 15.7 per cent of the household population in Finland were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2016, according to Statistics Finland.

The data showed that a total of about 849,000 people in Finland were at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

This is the lowest share in the whole 11-year reference period. The share of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion has varied in Finland between 15.7 and 17.9 per cent in 2005 to 2016.

The risk of poverty or social exclusion for a majority of persons is explained with low income earning: around three out of every four persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion are low income earners.

Meanwhile, the data derived on Thursday from the results of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, where Finland’s data are based on Statistics Finland’s income distribution statistics, showed that a total of 16.6 per cent or 896,000 people in Finland were facing the risk in 2015.

In all, 23.5 per cent of the citizens of the European Union’s 28 member states were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2015.

The risk of poverty or social exclusion in Europe in 2015 was the highest in Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, and the lowest in Iceland. Finland’s share was the fourth lowest.

People at risk of poverty or social exclusion include low income earners, those who face severe material deprivation or live in a household with low work intensity. In a majority of countries, low income earners are most common.

In all, 17.3 per cent of the population in the EU member states belonged to low income households in 2015.

The so-called AROPE indicator (At Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion) that measures the risk of poverty or social exclusion is part of the monitoring of the objective of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

It aims to reduce the number of persons living at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU by 20 million by 2020 from the 116 million people who were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2008.