Report: Romania registers one of the highest shares of disabled people at risk of poverty, social exclusion in EU

Romania registers one of the highest shares in Europe of people aged over 16 with disabilities who are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to Eurostat data processed by Monitorul Social, a project of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania. A total of 38.4% of people with disabilities in the country were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2024, compared with the EU average of 28.7%.

High values of the risk of poverty and social exclusion are also found in Lithuania (45.8%), Bulgaria (43.5%), and Croatia (40.2%), while lower values are recorded in countries such as the Czech Republic (15.6%), Slovakia (19.7%), and Austria (21.5%).

However, the share of people with disabilities in Romania facing the risk of poverty and social exclusion has decreased by more than 10% over the past decade, from 49.1% in 2015 to 45.2% in 2020, reaching 38.4% in 2024, while at the European level the reduction in the risk of poverty and social exclusion was insignificant, from 30.4% in 2015 to 28.7% in 2024.

An explanation for the decrease in the share of people with disabilities at risk of poverty or social exclusion is the strong impact of social transfers (allowances, pensions, social assistance) on reducing the risk of monetary poverty.

Practically, in 2024, the share of people with disabilities at risk of poverty before social transfers was 78.5%, falling to 22% after social transfers. Therefore, social transfers, which include pensions, allowances, benefits, and tax exemptions, reduced poverty by 56%.

The reduction is similar to the EU average, which had 68% of people with disabilities at risk of poverty before social transfers, dropping to 21% after social transfers.

Still, the risk of poverty and social exclusion remains much higher among people with disabilities in Romania compared to the same risk among people without disabilities (38.5% versus 24.1%). The country has one of the largest gaps between the two groups in the EU. This suggests that disability is a structural barrier to accessing a standard of living that ensures subsistence and a decent life.

While the share of the population at risk of poverty does not differ substantially depending on disability, the greatest difficulty faced by people with disabilities is the high proportion experiencing material and social deprivation. This can be explained by the fact that people with disabilities generally have high expenses arising from disability, which reduces the household’s ability to afford goods considered essential for a reasonable standard of living.

According to Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania, to mitigate the structural barriers determined by disability, it is necessary to maintain an extensive package of monetary and non-monetary benefits, as well as tax, contribution, and levy exemptions for people with disabilities, and to expand them.