Government document: One in five Romanians live in poverty, 4.8 mln people make vulnerable group

About 22.6%of Romanians live in relative poverty, and the majority of these people - or 81% of poor people - live in persistent poverty, according to the draft of the National Strategy on Reducing Poverty currently under public debate by the Ministry of Labor. The rate of persistent poverty in Romania is almost double the EU level - 10.2%. “One in five Romanians is currently experiencing poverty due to insufficient income and much of the income-based poverty is persistent, three quarter of the poor being in this situation of at least three years,” reads the Ministry’s National Strategy on Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction (2014-2020). Moreover, one third of the population is affected by severe poverty, which means they cannot but items needed for a decent lifestyle, according to the document. In 2012-2013, the group of people vulnerable to poverty included 1.8 million Roma, 1.4 million children, 725,000 people over 80, 687,000 adults and children with disabilities, and over 63,000 orphans, so in total some 4.6 million people. In case of themost favorable - but less likely scenario - Romania will reduce poverty between 2008 and 2020 for 709,000 people, which would be some 130,000 people above its set target, according to the document. One third of the population can’t afford to purchase items considered desirable or even necessary for a decent life and there are still Romanian children who never went to school, the document reveals. Moreover, many people are still inactive or unemployed officially, with little chance to gain proper access to the labor market. The strategy targets poor people and/or families whose annual income is with 60% below the average income expressed per equivalent adult. In 2008, this category included nearly five million Romanians. According to the document, the Government’s objective is to reduce this number with at least 580,000 people by 2020. “In 2012, the number was already reduced to 4.8 million, which means that 30% of the objective was already met. From 2012 to 2020, the goal in to get out of poverty the rest 400,000 people (the remaining 70%),” reads the Strategy. To address this issue of poverty, the draft strategy proposes a conceptual framework based on creating jobs and providing opportunities for the poor, according to the document. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com, additional reporting by Corina Chirileasa, corina@romania-insider.com