Status: 03/10/2023 09:01 a.m
The Parity Welfare Association has corrected its poverty report – according to it, 300,000 more people are affected by poverty than assumed in June. The organization calls for several measures by the federal government.
According to the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband, more people are poor in Germany than assumed. According to the organization, not 13.8 million people were affected by poverty, but 14.1 million people.
The poverty rate in Germany was not 16.6 percent in 2021, but 16.9 percent. The association thus corrected its poverty report published in June.
Federal office presented final results
In the new version, the organization refers to figures from the Federal Statistical Office that relate to the 2021 reporting year. After the first results from last year, the authority has now presented final results “with some serious deviations”, the association explained.
According to the Federal Office, child poverty was not 20.8 percent, as initially calculated, but 21.3 percent. The poverty rate for single parents rose to 42.3 instead of 41.6 percent.
According to the EU definition, those at risk of poverty are those who have less than 60 percent of the median income of the total population. For a person living alone in Germany, this is currently around 15,000 euros a year, for a family with two children around 31,500 euros.
Social association insists on raising the standard rates
The poverty rates were already at a record high according to the earlier data, said the general manager of the joint general association, Ulrich Schneider. “Poverty is not only getting bigger, but also getting deeper with exploding prices,” says Schneider.
The association called on the federal government to take effective measures against the increasing poverty in Germany. An increase in the standard rates for citizen income and basic old-age security from the current 502 to 725 euros, an increase in BAföG to secure a living and a speedy introduction of basic child security are of central importance.