Income poverty in the European Union

Although the EU is an economically well-off region in comparison with the rest of the world, the EU Member States are still faced with the problem of income poverty. Recent Eurostat statistics show that 16% of the EU25 population was at risk of poverty in 2003. The data indicate that employment is the main factor in offsetting the risk of income poverty. However, the phenomenon of in-work poverty is also prevalent in the EU.