“If, in 2023, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children stands at 24%, it falls by four points thanks to the childcare-service voucher (CSA), which improves the standard of living of households,” says Statec. Photo: Shutterstock

“If, in 2023, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children stands at 24%, it falls by four points thanks to the childcare-service voucher (CSA), which improves the standard of living of households,” says Statec. Photo: Shutterstock

While it has now been established that the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children in Luxembourg is 24%, the national statistics bureau Statec indicates in its latest “Work and Social Cohesion” report that the persistent risk of poverty affects 15% of children, compared with 8% of the population.

It was the last presentation of the “Work and Social Cohesion” report for Statec director , who will be retiring at the end of October. And for the presentation of this twentieth edition, the focus was once again on the at-risk-of-poverty rate, and more specifically that of children.

This is a subject that the current government has also made a priority for this term of office, as Luxembourg remains one of the worst-ranked countries in the European Union when it comes to poverty among the under-18s. This rate is even more pronounced among single-parent households, with 44% affected by poverty.

“We went beyond the indicators we usually use, and tried to put the figures we studied into perspective,” explains Guillaume Osier, head of Statec’s living conditions department. “If, in 2023, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for children stands at 24%, it falls by four points thanks to the childcare-service voucher (CSA), which improves the standard of living of households.”

An “adapted” at-risk-of-poverty rate

“If household consumption and savings are also taken into account alongside income, this risk is halved for children. And according to income forecasts for 2023, the at-risk-of-monetary-poverty rate would be 18.3%, down slightly on the 18.8% recorded in 2022,” continues Osier. “The fact remains that 8% of the population and 15% of children are still at risk of poverty, meaning that they were at risk of poverty in 2022 and for at least two years between 2019 and 2021.”

Statec also adds in its report that the dynamics of poverty “offers a more in-depth approach by making it possible to track the movements of individuals and households into and out of poverty over an extended period.” This shows that more than half of the people at risk of poverty in 2022 were no longer at risk of poverty in 2023. At the same time, people fell into poverty in 2023 who were not in poverty in 2022.

For the outgoing Statec director, “we need a corrected at-risk-of-poverty rate adapted for Luxembourg, as we have done by removing benefits in kind,” notes Allegrezza. The report specifies that the at-risk-of-poverty rate varies if certain criteria are taken into account, such as whether or not social benefits are used, pre-committed expenditure, or if it is based on the reference budget.

This article was originally published in .

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