As a result of the corona pandemic, the Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband complains about a record poverty rate.
Berlin – “Poverty in Germany reached a new high in the pandemic year 2020,” said General Manager Ulrich Schneider on Thursday in Berlin. According to the “Paritätische Poverty Report”, which is based on figures from the Federal Statistical Office, around 13.4 million people in Germany lived below the poverty line last year – this corresponds to a rate of 16.1 percent. People are considered poor if they have less than 60 percent of the median income.
Compared to the pre-Corona year 2019, however, the poverty rate rose only slightly from 15.9 to 16.1 percent. “Despite the pandemic, the great quake in the poverty statistics largely failed to materialize,” admitted Schneider, blaming the state’s corona aid above all to be responsible. Measures such as short-time work benefits have proven to be “effective instruments for combating poverty”. In addition, four fifths of people would have had no loss of income in 2020. “Income losers” were mainly the self-employed: Compared to 2019, their poverty rate rose from 9 to 13 percent.
In addition, the Paritätische diagnosed a growing “prosperity gap” between southern Germany and the rest of the republic. While in Bavaria only 11.6 percent lived in poverty, the rate in Bremen was 28.4 percent. That has nothing to do with even approximately the same living conditions, said Schneider: “Germany is not only socially but also regionally a deeply divided country – and the rifts are getting deeper.” (dpa)
#Corona #pandemic #poverty #rate #highest #level