Subjective poverty higher among lower educated

In 2023, almost one third (28.8%) of the EU population with a low education attainment level (International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), levels 0-2) were considered to be subjectively poor, down from 29.5% in 2022. The rate was more than 3 times lower at 9.4% (9.2% in 2022) among people with a high education attainment level (ISCED levels 5-8), while the share for people with a medium education level (ISCED levels 3 and 4) was 18.5% (18.0% in 2022). 

In total, 26 EU countries reported higher rates among people with a low education level who were considered to be subjectively poor, compared with people with medium and high education levels. Finland was the exception with a slightly higher rate among people with a medium education level (8.6%).

Source dataset: ilc_sbjp02

Among the EU countries, with 81.8%, Greece had the highest share of people with a low education level who were considered to be subjectively poor. It was followed by Bulgaria (60.5%) and Slovakia (58.4%). The lowest numbers were registered in Finland (7.9%), the Netherlands (11.7%) and Luxembourg (12.3%).

Most EU countries reported significant differences between high and low-educated population groups. The difference was at least 20 percentage points (pp) in 11 countries. The most notable differences were in Bulgaria (43.9 pp), Slovakia (43.2 pp) and Hungary (37.8 pp), with the lowest in Finland (3.3 pp), the Netherlands (7.3 pp) and Sweden (7.7 pp).