THE RISK of slipping into poverty is felt by 44 percent of people in Slovakia, and the ratio is even higher in another five other European economies, according to an analysis by Poštová Bank, based on a Eurobarometer survey.
The analysis notes that one in eight economically active people in Slovakia are jobless.
“Life’s not a bed of roses even for those who do have a job,” the analysis states, as quoted by the TASR newswire. “The average salary in Slovakia is some 30 percent of the European average. Even so, two thirds of people in Slovakia who are employed don’t even receive that. Many Slovak families experience financial woes and are worried about the future.” The Eurobarometer findings go back to June 2014.
The largest proportion of people worried about falling into poverty was found in Greece (56 percent); one in four economically active people are unemployed there, as the job market remains unstable.
The ratio was under 50 percent in all other countries, while Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia and Hungary posted ratios that were higher than that of Slovakia. Conversely, people in the Scandinavian countries and in Malta were the least concerned about possibly slipping into poverty, with Finland at 9 percent. When the EU as a whole is considered, one in three people were worried about the possibility of poverty.
