"le déséquilibre entre les riches et les pauvres est la plus ancienne et la plus fatale des maladies des républiques"
- Plutarque

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Austerity fuels the spread of poverty

At the end of February, Caritas International has released its 2015 Report on poverty within the European Union. According to its authors, six years of enforced budgetary authority have gravely affected 125 million EU citizens who are now forced to live under the poverty thresholds of their respective countries.

The worst-hit countries are EU members such as Bulgaria and Romania, where more than 40 percent of the population earn incomes below the official poverty threshold. The spread of poverty, however, has not spared prosperous countries like Germany either, where the number of people living in poverty has reached a whopping 12 million.

The authors of the report imply that more austerity can only fuel the spread of poverty and the potential for social strife in affected countries.