In Real Economy this week Maithreyi Seetharaman looks at the challenges governments face in tackling poverty with the help of some of those closest to the issue.

The shocking truth is that according to Eurostat, the official EU statistics agency, around a quarter of Europe’s population are now at risk of falling into poverty. That adds up 122 million people in the Europe we think of as developed.

Women and children are the groups most vulnerable to poverty in the 21st century. Real Economy will ask why that should be and what can be done about it.

Firstly though, we have to distinguish between two different definitions of poverty.

Poverty – Crash Course
Firstly , there are almost one billion people in the world living on less than two dollars a day. They have little food and water, no real housing, few clothes and no medicine.
For these people it’s a daily struggle to stay alive.

These people a living in ABSOLUTE poverty.

Secondly, there are those people who, in their respective countries, earn or receive, less than what is needed to maintain a minimum standard of living.

They may struggle to meet basic needs like food, housing and medical expenses.

These people are living in RELATIVE poverty, and it is these people, and people at risk of joining them, that Real Economy is looking at this week.

Reducing poverty
The EU’s goal is to bring 20 million people out of relative poverty by 2020.

But the financial crisis over the past eight years has put more people at risk of falling into poverty, especially women. A quarter of women across the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion (Eurostat).

Dominique Pitault lives on the outskirts of Paris and after 18 years working, part of that time as a director of a recreation centre, she lost her job (…)
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