As will be seen below, this is largely caused by the high participation and weight of retirement benefits, but it is also due to the fact that the proportion of households dependent solely on transfers of that type is lower. On average, transfers cut households’ poverty level by 6.5 percentage points. The number of people living in poverty, however, is down by only 5 percentage points. This is because it is easier to reduce poverty in households comprising fewer members, since the most significant transfers —pensions and retirement benefits— generally target older persons.