In 1992 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 17 October the International Day for the Eradication of Povertywith the aim to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty in the world and to encourage activities to fight it. Relative and absolute poverty That poverty is a serious global problem can be seen from the World Bank estimate according to which more than a billion people in developing countries are living in extreme poverty. These people live in absolute poverty with less than USD 1.25 per day. Absolute poverty is lack of goods and services that are urgently required in life, such as food, drinking water, housing, basic medical care, basic education. Statistical offices of European countries measure relative poverty. We suppose that due to their low income poor people cannot afford to have a life that is deemed normal for the society in which they live, and this leads to social exclusion. This is not only about food, clothes, footwear, dwellings, but also about exclusion from common economic, social, cultural and sport activities and about not having the possibility to exercise their basic rights. According to Eurostat data for 2013, about 16.6% of the population in EU Member States (83 million people) were living with income lower than the at-risk-of-poverty threshold. In Slovenia in 2014 this figure was 14.5% or 290,000 people, i.e. one in seven inhabitants of Slovenia. In 2013, the at-risk-of-poverty rate was the lowest in the Czech Republic (8.6%) and the highest in Serbia (24.5%). In Slovenia and Switzerland the rate was 14.5% and they both ranked among the countries in which the at-risk-of-poverty rate was low. Lower rates were recorded in 11 out of 33 countries covered by the survey. There were, however, seven countries whose rates were over 20% (Spain, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia). The EU-28 average was 16.6%. When the at-risk-of-poverty threshold is compared between the countries, the situation is no longer favourable for Slovenia, as in 18 countries in 2013 this threshold was higher than in Slovenia; thus also the mean value of the disposable household income in those countries was higher. The at-risk-of-poverty threshold in 2013 ranged from EUR 1,100 in Macedonia or PPS 2,300 in Romania to about EUR 25,700 in Norway or 16,800 PPS in Luxembourg; in Slovenia it stood at about EUR 7,100 or 8,500 PPS. When comparing the at-risk-of-poverty threshold in purchasing power standards (PPS) &ndash; which take into account differences in price levels among countries &ndash; it is clear that in the Eastern European countries and Portugalthis threshold was lower than in Slovenia, while in the Western European countries and Cyprusit was higher than in Slovenia. The higher the at-risk-of-poverty rate, the lower the material deprivation In 2013, Slovenia and Switzerland had the same share of persons living below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold (14.5%); however, there was a large difference in the annual at-risk-of-poverty threshold. The threshold in Slovenia was not even a third of the Swiss one; the latter was by about EUR 17,400 or 6,900 PPS higher than in Slovenia. Poor people in Slovenia (living below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold) were living at a lower standard of living than poor people in Switzerland
17. oktober je za mednarodni dan boja proti revščini razglasila Generalna skupščina Združenih narodov decembra 1992. S tem dnem opozarja na problem revščine v svetu in spodbuja aktivnosti za njeno zmanjševanje. Relativna in absolutna revščina Da je revščina resen svetovni problem, pove tudi ocena Svetovne banke; po tej oceni živi v skrajni revščini več kot milijarda ljudi v državah v razvoju. To so ljudje, ki živijo v absolutni, ekstremni revščini, z manj kot 1,25USD na dan. Pri absolutni revščini gre predvsem za pomanjkanje dobrin in storitev, nujno potrebnih za življenje, npr. hrane, pitne vode, bivališč, osnovne zdravstvene oskrbe, osnovnega izobraževanja. Statistični uradi evropskih držav merimo relativno revščino. Predpostavljamo, da so revne tiste osebe, ki si zaradi nizkega dohodka ne morejo privoščiti načina življenja, običajnega za družbo, v kateri živijo, to pa vodi v socialno izključenost. Niso prikrajšani le za osnovne dobrine, kot so hrana, obleka, obutev, stanovanje, ampak tudi pri običajnih ekonomskih, socialnih, kulturnih in športnih dejavnostih, lahko jim je onemogočen tudi dostop do uresničevanja njihovih temeljnih pravic. Po podatkih Eurostata za leto 2013 je v državah članicah EU tedaj živelo od dohodka, ki je bil nižji od praga tveganja revščine, približno 16,6% ali 83 milijonov ljudi. V Sloveniji je v letu 2014 živelo pod pragom tveganja revščine 14,5% ali 290.000 ljudi, to je vsak 7. prebivalec. Stopnja tveganja revščine (delež relativno revnih) je bila v letu 2013 najnižja v Češki republiki (8,6%), najvišja pa v Srbiji (24,5%). Slovenija in Švica sta se s 14,5-odstotno stopnjo tveganja revščine uvrstili med države s sorazmerno nizko stopnjo tveganja revščine. Nižji delež relativno revnih je imelo 11 držav od 33, ki izvajajo Raziskovanje o dohodkih in življenjskih pogojih. Nad 20-odstotno stopnjo tveganja revščine je v letu 2013 izkazovalo 7 držav (Španija, Litva, Bolgarija, Romunija, Grčija, Makedonija in Srbija). Povprečje za EU-28 je bilo 16,6%. Če primerjamo prag tveganja revščine med državami, slika za Slovenijo ni več tako ugodna, saj je bil v letu 2013 višji kar v 18. državah, torej je bila višja tudi srednja vrednost razpoložljivega dohodka gospodinjstev v teh državah. Prag tveganja revščine je bil po podatkih za leto 2013 najnižji v Makedoniji, znašal je približno 1.100EUR; če prag revščine izrazimo v standardih kupne moči (SKM) &ndash; ta upošteva razlike v ravni cen med državami &ndash; je bil najnižji v Romuniji (2.300SKM). Najvišji prag revščine je znašal 25.700EUR (na Norveškem) oz. 16.800SKM (v Luksemburgu). V Sloveniji je znašal približno 7.100EUR oz. 8.500SKM. Prag tveganja revščineje bil v vzhodnoevropskih državah in na Portugalskem nižji kot v Sloveniji, v zahodnoevropskih državah in na Cipru pa višji kot v Sloveniji. Višji prag tveganja revščine, nižja materialna prikrajšanost V letu 2013 je v Sloveniji in Švici živel pod pragom tveganja revščine enak delež oseb (14,5%), razlika v letnem pragu tveganja revščine med obema državama pa je bila sorazmerno visoka. Slovenski prag tveganja revščine v EUR ni dosegel niti tretjine švicarskega; ta je bil približno za 17.400EUR ali za 6.900SKM višji od slovenskega praga. Iz podatkov lahko sklepamo, da revni ljudje (osebe pod pragom tveganja revščine) v Sloveniji živijo na nižji življenjski ravni kot revni ljudje v Švici, na Norveškem, v Luksemburgu, Avstriji