Disabled people in Latvia face high risk of poverty and social exclusion

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People with disabilities living in Latvia have some of the European Union's highest risks of poverty or social exclusion, according to Eurostat data published December 7.

The European statistic agency's at risk of poverty or social exclusion indicator measures the percentage of people who are at risk of poverty and/or severely materially and socially deprived and/or living in a household with a very low work intensity.

In 2021, 29.7 % of the EU population aged 16 years or over with a disability (activity limitation) was at risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared with 18.8 % of those with no disability. For Latvia the difference was much wider with equivalent figures 41.2 % for people with a disability and 19.6 % for those without. Only Bulgaria and Romania had higher percentages (see table below).

The share of people with a disability (some or severe activity limitation) who were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2021 ranged among the EU Member States from 18.2 % in Czechia and 18.5 % in Finland to 44.2 % in Romania and 45.3 % in Bulgaria. As such, the share was 2.5 times as high in Bulgaria as in Czechia.

 The at-risk-of-poverty rate among people aged 16 years or over with a disability (activity limitation) was highest in 2021 in the Baltic States: 37.5 % in Latvia, 34.0 % in Estonia and 32.6 % in Lithuania. The lowest rates among people with a disability were in Finland (13.5 %), Slovakia (13.0 %; 2020 data) and Czechia (12.7 %). As such, the rate was 3.0 times as high in Latvia as in Czechia.

 

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