When are you considered poor?

Rising energy costs and rising food prices: In this country, the situation is getting worse for more and more people. But where is the poverty line in Germany in 2023? Or to put it another way: when does one officially count as poor in Germany?

It is apparently a curious situation: with the corona pandemic, we had one of the greatest global impacts of the past decades, especially in the years 2020 to 2022. Economic chains were disrupted worldwide and health systems in particular were on the verge of collapse.

And although the corona virus will not leave us, people’s hope was that at least the economic situation would recover. But the war in Ukraine seems to have made this hope obsolete.

Financial worries: When am I considered poor in Germany?

The weekly purchase becomes more expensive month by month. Energy prices are rising to unimaginable heights and, despite all interest rate increases, inflation is apparently continuing to rise inexorably.

In this context, more and more people are asking themselves: Am I poor? When am I considered poor in Germany? And: Where is the poverty line in Germany in 2023? Or to put it another way: the issue of poverty is increasingly coming into focus.

Poverty: One term, many definitions

It is not at all easy to define poverty – i.e. to put it in concrete numbers or values.

absolute poverty

First of all, there is the value of the so-called absolute poverty. This comes from the World Bank and includes internationally accepted criteria. According to this definition, all people are considered to be extremely poor if they have less than 2.15 US dollars a day.

According to current estimates by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, around 750 million people are affected worldwide.

People at risk of poverty in Germany

In addition to absolute poverty, especially in Germany, the relative poverty used.

According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education “Anyone who has less than 60 percent of the median income of the entire population is considered to be at risk of poverty.” In 2012, the figure was 15 percent. In 2021, this figure has already risen to 16.6 percent, according to figures from extra clarify.

Where is the poverty line in Germany?

After the political and social classification of the topic, we want to finally answer the question of where the poverty line is in Germany. To this end, the Federal Statistical Office conducts regular surveys.

The latest figures are from 2021. According to this, people living alone are from one Annual income of 15,009 euros (1,250 euros per month) as acutely at risk of poverty.

In Germany, two adults with two children under the age of 14 are considered poor or at risk of poverty if the household income is less than 31,520 euros per year (2,626 euros per month).

Elderly people and women are particularly often at risk of poverty

Women tend to be (16.5 percent) Percentage more frequently affected by poverty in Germany than men (15.1 percent).

If we also compare age, poverty is most prevalent among people over 65 years of age. live like this 19.4 percent right on the poverty line. This is followed by children and young people under the age of 18 16.2 percent followed by the 18 to 64 year olds 14.5 percent.

The latest figures on the poverty line in Germany in 2023 make it very clear that in some age groups every fifth person in this country lives in poverty or is at acute risk of poverty.

So anyone who claims that poverty is irrelevant in Germany is denying reality.

Also interesting: