While the EU has just launched the European Year for combating poverty and social exclusion, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union, published its latest figures on poverty.

The risk of poverty as defined by Eurostat indicates that income after social transfers are below the poverty line. This threshold varies considerably from one Member State to another, in absolute value. The total share of the European population threatened by poverty in 2008 appears stable at 17%. However, the rate of poverty risk for children aged 0 to 17 years and persons aged 65 years or more in Europe is on average higher than the overall rate: it is respectively 20% and 19%. In France, the poverty rate of the overall population (13%) is higher than that of persons aged 65 and over (11%). The poverty rate for children from 0 to 17 years is 17%.