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   From: rachel-madcow@msnbc.com   
      
   In article    
   forging asshole  wrote:   
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   The poverty rate in Germany reached a new high of 16.6 percent   
   of the population in 2021. According to the Poverty Report 2022   
   of the Paritätischer Gesamtverband charity association, entitled   
   “Between Pandemic and Inflation,” 13.8 million people lived in   
   poverty, 600,000 more than before the pandemic began.   
      
   The poverty threshold was regarded as a monthly income of €1,148   
   for a single household, €1,492 for a single parent with one   
   child, and €2,410 for a couple household with two small   
   children. Since the report covers 2021 it does not consider the   
   impact of the dramatic increase in inflation since the beginning   
   of the year.   
      
   Since 2006, the trend in the annual poverty reports has been   
   upward. Ulrich Schneider, Chief Executive of the Paritätischer   
   Gesamtverband, said at the presentation of the report, “The   
   current poverty record is the peak of a trend that has had   
   Germany firmly in its grip for 15 years now. This trend began in   
   2006. Since then, the poverty rate has risen from 14 to 16.6   
   percent, despite all the economic successes of this country. The   
   number of poor people increased by more than 2 million in those   
   15 years—from 11.5 to 13.8 million.”   
      
   This trend accelerated in the two pandemic years of 2020 and   
   2021. The poverty rate climbed from 15.9 to 16.6 percent. “This   
   is the steepest increase in two years ever measured by the micro   
   census,” as Schneider explained. “Never before in recent times   
   has poverty spread so rapidly in Germany as during the pandemic.   
   The increase is unprecedented.”   
      
   In 2021, in particular, the economic effects of the pandemic   
   fully impacted on poverty trends. In 2020, poverty had risen   
   from 15.9 to 16.1 percent.   
      
   What is striking, is the sharp increase in poverty among the   
   employed and especially among the self-employed. Among the   
   latter, the poverty rate increased by 46 percent, rising from 9   
   to 13.1 percent. Numerous other reports also confirm that many   
   self-employed people suffered financial losses during the   
   pandemic.   
      
   But poverty among those with an employment contract—people who   
   are poor despite working—also rose unusually sharply during the   
   pandemic, from 7.9 to 8.4 percent. The key factors here were   
   income losses due to short-time working and the fact that   
   employees on low wages were hit hardest by pandemic-related   
   income losses.   
      
   This was compounded by the rapid increase in part-time working.   
   “It can be surmised that pandemic-related reductions in working   
   hours, with corresponding wage losses, also played a role here,”   
   the presentation says.   
      
   Poverty among pensioners and among children and youth also   
   reached new highs in 2021, at 17.9 and 20.8 percent,   
   respectively. More than one in five children and youth grew up   
   in poverty in 2021.   
      
   “It is a record for old-age poverty and a new record for child   
   poverty that is reflected in the statistics. Never before have   
   higher values been measured in the micro census. Child poverty   
   is reflected here—as in previous years—primarily in the poverty   
   rate of single parents, at over 40 percent, and of those with   
   many children, at over 30 percent,” the report reads.   
      
   The economically inactive and those with a low educational level   
   are also disproportionately affected by poverty. The same is   
   true for people with a migration background (28.1 percent) and   
   without German citizenship (35.3 percent). The poverty rate   
   among students is 30 percent.   
      
   The poverty trend also varies regionally. Bavaria and Baden-   
   Württemberg have the lowest poverty rates at 12.6 and 13.9   
   percent, respectively, while North Rhine-Westphalia (18.7),   
   Thuringia (18.9), Saxony-Anhalt (19.5) and Berlin (19.6) are   
   well above average, with Bremen leading the way at 28 percent.   
      
   As in an earlier report, the Ruhr, which has seen massive   
   deindustrialisation, is the top problem region in terms of   
   poverty. In Germany’s largest conurbation with 5.8 million   
   inhabitants, more than one in five (1.2 million) live in   
   poverty. With a poverty rate of 21.1 percent, if the Ruhr were a   
   state, it would rank second to last, ahead of Bremen.   
      
      
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