1.1. Contact organisation
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
e-mail contact : ESTAT-SDG-MONITORING@ec.europa.eu
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
2 May 20232.2. Metadata last posted
15 May 20232.3. Metadata last update
29 April 2024The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set where it is used to monitor progress towards SDG 1 on ending poverty in all its forms everywhere, which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under 'An Economy that works for people'.
SDG 1 calls for an eradication of extreme poverty and for a reduction of relative poverty by 2030. It envisions shared prosperity, a basic standard of living and social protection benefits for people everywhere, including the poorest and most vulnerable. The indicator is also used to monitor progress towards SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth.
Furthermore, the indicator is included as a secondary indicator in the Social Scoreboard for the European Pillar of Social Rights and EPSR Action Plan.
Poverty and social exclusion harm individual lives and limit the opportunities for people to achieve their full potential by affecting their health and well-being and lowering educational outcomes. This, in turn, reduces opportunities to lead a successful life and further increases the risk of poverty. Without effective education, health, social, tax benefit and employment systems, the risk of poverty is passed on from one generation to the next. This causes poverty to persist and hence creates more inequality, which can lead to long-term loss of economic productivity from whole groups of society and hamper inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
Employment is often claimed to be the best protection against poverty, so one of the objectives of the EU is to create more and better jobs. It is therefore important to measure the share of working-poor, people living below the poverty line although they are working.
4.1. Data description
The share of persons who are employed and have an equivalised disposable income below the risk-of-poverty threshold, which is set at 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income (after social transfers). For the purpose of this indicator, an individual is considered as being employed if he/she was employed for more than half of the reference year. The indicator is based on the EU-SILC (statistics on income, social inclusion and living conditions).
4.2. Unit of measure
% of employed persons aged 18 or over
4.3. Reference Period
Calendar year
4.4. Accuracy - overall
The indicator is produced according to the high-level quality standards of European Statistics. From 2005 onwards, EU-SILC is based on a common framework defined by harmonised lists of primary and secondary variables, common concepts, a recommended design, common requirements (such as imputation procedures, weighting, sampling errors calculation) and classifications aiming at maximising comparability of the information produced. Details can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to related metadata).
4.5. Source data
4.5.1. Source data - Organisation
ESS (SILC)
4.5.2. Source data - Comment
Data source: Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC).
Data provider: Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), based on data reported by the countries.
5.1. Frequency of dissemination
5.1.1. Frequency of dissemination - Grade
Every year5.1.2. Frequency of dissemination - Comment
Indicator is updated annually in November. Complete and updated ESS data release information can be accessed via Eurostat release calendar.
5.2. Timeliness
5.2.1. Timeliness - Grade
T+1 year5.2.2. Timeliness - Comment
New data points are disseminated within one year after the reference year.
6.1. Reference area
6.1.1. Reference Area - Grade
All EU MS6.1.2. Reference Area - Comment
Data are presented for all EU Member States plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.
6.2. Comparability - geographical
6.2.1. Comparability - geographical - Grade
All EU MS6.2.2. Comparability - geographical - Comment
Data are comparable between all EU Member States respectively other presented countries.
6.3. Coverage - Time
6.3.1. Time Coverage - Grade
> 10 years6.3.2. Time Coverage - Comment
Presented time series (including EU aggregates) starts in 2010.
6.4. Comparability - over time
6.4.1. Comparability - over time - Grade
> 4 data points6.4.2. Comparability - over time - Comment
Length of comparable time series without methodological break is longer than 4 data points.
7.1. Dissemination format - Publications
Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).
7.2. Dissemination format - online database
See table sdg_01_41
7.3. Dissemination format - other
Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview
Copyrights: Eurostat Copyright/Licence Policy is applicable.
