08 May 2019

Research: Poverty rates across Europe

After analysing the impact different tax/benefit systems have in countries across Europe, the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex has found revealing data about the extent to which poverty among women may arise after two key events – childbirth and divorce:

It finds:

The highest post-childbirth poverty rate (over 20%) is observed in the countries with liberal welfare systems (the UK and Ireland)
The probability of falling into poverty is substantially higher for mothers after divorce in the UK, compared to Belgium and other EU countries
Only two countries manage to keep poverty rates relatively stable (Denmark and the Czech Republic) and in three countries poverty rates after the childbirth appear to be even lower than before childbirth(France, Austria, Lithuania)