Poor despite working. Workers in Romania continue to have the highest risk of poverty in the EU

In 2023, 15.3% of workers in Romania were at risk of poverty, while in Bulgaria and Spain this figure was just over 11%, and in Greece and Hungary it was around 10% and 7% respectively, according to Eurostat data. A year earlier, the percentage of workers at risk of poverty was 14.5% in Romania, compared to 9.7% in Bulgaria and over 11% in Italy and Spain. In the same year, France recorded an in-work poverty rate of 7.5%, while Croatia recorded 4.7%. The trend was for an increase in the risk of in-work poverty in 2023 compared to 2022.

On average, over the last five years (2019-2023), 8.8% of European workers were at risk of poverty. The highest rate is in Romania (15.3%), followed by Luxembourg (12.6%) and Spain (12%). The lowest percentages are in Finland (2.8%), the Czech Republic (3.4%), and Belgium (4.2%).

These figures show that wages in Romania are not sufficient to cover the basic expenses of all workers. Job insecurity is one of the main factors driving Romanians to emigrate to Western European countries.

In terms of gender distribution, the proportion of employees in Romania at risk of poverty is higher among men (18.9%) than among women (10.3%) in 2023. This may be due to the fact that the employment rate for women in Romania is much lower than that for men, but also because the percentage of women with higher education in the workforce is higher.

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Data processing and text design: Maria-Luiza Apostolescu

Infographic: Pascalone Media SRL