Romania ranks first in the EU by the share of employees at risk of poverty, with a percentage of 15.7% in 2019. The EU average is 8.9%.

"The idea that work leads to well-being and, implicitly, poor people are those who do not want to work, is less true in Romania than anywhere in Europe," concludes the latest edition of Social Monitor, a project of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania, quoted by Agerpres.

In 2015, the share of employees at risk of poverty in Romania was 18.8%.

Therefore, 2019 data indicate some improvement. In contrast, Romania ranks second in the EU in terms of productivity growth, after Ireland.

From 2010 to date, Romania's productivity growth has been 42.6%, the report reads.

The high poverty rate among Romanian employees is at the root of the findings included in a study carried last year, pointing to Romania as having the fifth largest migrant population in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2015/2016.

The study found that, from 2001/2002 to 2015/2016, Romania's emigrant population in OECD countries increased by 2.3 million, reaching 3.6 million people, or at least 17 percent of the people born in Romania. 

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andrei@romania-insider.com