Moreover, since the studied period of 2010-2013 covers the economic crisis and the ensuing spell of slow and uneven recovery, when median incomes stagnated or fell in many countries, fixing the poverty line in a pre-crisis survey year (2008) allows for a more consistent comparison of living conditions over time. Thus we keep the goal posts fixed rather than moving them around. Analysis of the longitudinal EU-SILC 2008-2011 includes all countries of the EU-27 except Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Romania and Sweden plus Iceland and Norway.