Brussels, 22/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - Presenting to press the findings of the May 2010 Eurobarometer survey on the social impact of the crisis, Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Commissioner László Andor highlighted the difficulty being experienced by more and more people in making ends meet, and that the crisis and calls for austerity measures come through in people's perception of poverty. One of the findings of the survey, however, was that, in the northern countries, where the social security systems are well developed, people are less worried about the future than in the other countries of the EU. Andor made calls for a more inclusive society and for work to be done on pensions. The survey confirms the reality and the need to redouble efforts to reduce poverty and increase employment, the commissioner said. He opined that first and foremost, the focus must be on economic recovery, GDP increase and cutting unemployment in the EU, and coordinating macro-economic policies.
The main findings of the survey as presented by Commissioner Andor are (1) Increase in poverty at all levels in 2009: 85% of Greeks, 83% of French, 82% of Bulgarians, 77% of Romanians and 75% of Italians think poverty has increased in their country. As an average, six out of 10 citizens fell that poverty increased in their region in 2009, 75% in their country and 60% in the EU. (2) Differences in situation among member states: these differences bear witness to the relevance of thinking local, regional and also at the level of the European Commission, whose €10 billion European Social Fund (ESF) also finances measures to tackle social exclusion and poverty, Andor said. Citing Belgium as an example, the commissioner said that, in Brussels, 35% of people thought that poverty had increased, compared with 10% in Antwerp, even though the distance between the two cities is not great! (3) Households' financial situation: in Romania and Greece, seven out of 10 people believe that their household's financial situation will deteriorate. In other countries, the perception is less bleak: 23% of Latvians, 32% of Lithuanians, and 20% of Hungarians think their household's situation will get worse compared with 65%, 58% and 48% respectively in July 2009.
(4) Citizens' concern about loss of employment. In March 2010, 18% of respondents in employment were not very or not at all confident that they would be able to keep their current job in the next 12 months, and 49% thought it would be fairly unlikely or not at all likely that they would be able to find a new position within six months. (5) Future pensions. Seventy-three percent either explicitly anticipate lower pension benefits or think they will have to postpone their retirement or save more money for old age, while 20% of EU citizens fear their income in old age will be insufficient for them to live a decent life. (G.B./transl.jl)