90,000 people in households below the poverty line in Cyprus

The coronavirus crisis hit women, children and single-parent families hardest
22 August 2022, “Haravgi” newspaper, Konstantinos Zachariou
21.7% of the population, or 193,000 people, live in households whose income is below the poverty line and/or face severe material deprivation and/or have a very low labour intensity index. In fact, the coronavirus crisis has exacerbated the situation, particularly for women, children and single-parent families. The above conclusion is derived from an analysis of data released by the Statistics Office’s Survey of Income and Living Conditions, which was released recently. More specifically, the survey revealed the following:
● The proportion of the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion rose to 17.3% in 2021. The number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion was 17.17% in 2017, but this is due to a change in the definition, which excludes those who experience material deprivation, but not social deprivation. The actual rate – based on the formula which has been used for years and is comparable to previous years – increased in 2021 to 21.7% (corresponding to 193,000 persons) compared to 21.3% the previous year.
● The increase was mainly for women (from 22.2% to 23.1%) and children up to 17 years of age (from 23.4% to 25.3%). There was also a marginal increase for men (from 20.2% to 20.3%).
● The proportion facing severe material deprivation reached 2.6% in 2021. However, even in this case this is due to the change in definition. The actual rate increased to 10% (corresponding to 89,000 persons), compared to 8.3% in the previous year. It must also be noted that the increase applies to all categories (for men it increased from 8.3% to 9.8%, for women from 8.2% to 10.1%) and for children up to 17 years old from 11.8% to 14.6%).
● Single-parent families are the most vulnerable, with the at-risk-of-poverty rate reaching 28.6% in 2021. In fact, the data released show a significant deterioration compared to the previous year (23.3%). Households with two adults and two dependent children (13.5%) and households with two adults and three or more dependent children (19.4%) also have a high rate. Furthermore, there is a big gap in one-person households, as the rate is 16.5% for men and 25.4% for women.
The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer
The figures from the Statistical Office confirm that inequality remains high, but also that there has been a further deterioration of the situation due to the coronavirus crisis.
More specifically, the S80/S20 coefficient shows that in 2021 the 20% of the high income class had incomes 4.2 times higher than the corresponding 20% of the low income class.
The Gini coefficient also increased marginally in 2021 to 29.4 compared to 29.3 in the previous year. As noted in the press release of the Statistics Service, the “increase in the value of the Gini coefficient implies an increase in inequality”.