Subjective poverty in the European Union is higher among people with lower educational attainment

In 2022, almost one third (29.5%) of the EU population with a low educational attainment level (International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), levels 0-2) was considered poor.

The rate was more than 3 times lower (9.2%) for people with high education (ISCED levels 5-8) while the share for people with a medium educational attainment level (ISCED levels 3 and 4) was 18.0%.

26 EU members reported higher rates of people with a low education level who are considered poor, compared with people with medium and high education levels. Finland was the exception, with a slightly higher rate among people with a medium education level.

Among the EU countries, Greece had the highest share of people with a low education level (four fifths; 81.6%) considered poor. This was followed by Bulgaria (67.9%) and Slovakia (53.3%). The lowest numbers were registered in Finland (7.3%), Luxembourg (10.0%) and Sweden (11.3%).

Most of the EU members reported significant differences between high and low-educated population groups. The difference was at least 20 percentage points (pp) in 12 countries. The most notable differences were in Bulgaria (47.7 pp), Hungary (41.5 pp) and Slovakia (39.5 pp) and the lowest in Finland (4.5 pp), Denmark (5.9 pp) and Sweden (7.1 pp).

The EU Commission calls for more effective support to fight poverty and promote employment

More information: Eurostat