Romania posts the highest in-work poverty risk in EU

One in ten employed persons aged 18 years or over in the EU were found to be at risk of poverty in 2018. Over recent years, this share has risen from 8.6% in 2008 to 9.5% in 2018, says a recent Eurostat survey.

The in-work poverty risk in the EU differs slightly between women and men. In 2018, 9.9% of employed men were at risk of poverty compared to 9.1% of women.

Highest in-work poverty in Romania, lowest in Finland

The in-work at-risk-of-poverty rates varied across EU Member States: the highest rates were observed in Romania (15.3%), followed by Luxemburg (13.5%), Spain (12.9%), Italy (12.2%), the United Kingdom (11.3%) and Greece (11.0%), while the lowest rates were recorded in Finland (3.1%), Czechia (3.4%), Ireland (4.9%), Belgium and Croatia (both 5.2%) as well as Denmark (5.4%).

Part-time and temporary workers more at risk

Part-time workers and employees on temporary contracts are more likely to be at risk of in-work poverty than those who work full-time and who have permanent contracts. In 2018, part-time workers in the EU were at twice the risk of monetary poverty (15.7%) than those employed full-time (7.8%), while employees with temporary jobs had almost a three times higher risk (16.2%) than those with permanent jobs (6.1%).