Four out of 5 Greeks with a low educational level consider themselves poor

According to Eurostat data released on Monday, one in three Europeans with a low level of education is subjectively considered poor, compared to four in five Greeks.

In 2022, 29.5% of the EU population with a low level of education (with a high school diploma rather than a high school diploma) is subjectively considered poor.

This percentage is more than three times lower (9.2%) for people with high education (higher education). In contrast, for people with an average level of education (high school diploma without higher education), it was 18%.

Among EU countries, Greece has the highest percentage of people with a low level of education (81.6%) who were considered poor. Bulgaria (67.9%) and Slovakia (53.3%) follow.

The lowest figures are recorded in Finland (7.3%), Luxembourg (10.0%) and Sweden (11.3%).

Greece also has the highest percentages in the EU of people with a medium and high level of education who are subjectively considered poor, with percentages of 70% and 49%, respectively.

Most EU Member States reported significant differences between highly and poorly educated population groups. The difference was at least 20 percentage points (pp) in 12 countries.

The most notable differences were in Bulgaria (47.7 p.), Hungary (41.5 p.) and Slovakia (39.5 p.) and the lowest in Finland (4.5 p. .m), Denmark (5.9 am) and Sweden (7.1 am).

What is “subjective poverty.”

It is noted that “subjective poverty” is the individual’s perception of his financial and material situation. It is a perception based on results from the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) and a collection of data from all EU members, as well as most EFTA (European Free Trade Area) countries and the candidate countries.

This indicator assesses the respondents’ perception of the difficulties faced by their household to cope with financial obligations. The assessment considers the state of households’ material well-being, including income, expenditure, debt and wealth.

READ MORE: Seven out of 10 Greeks aged 18-34 live with their parents.