Poverty rate in 2020 reaches 23.4%; number of poor corresponding to period - 4.524 million persons

The rate of relative poverty in 2020 was 23.4%, in absolute values, the number of poor corresponding to this rate being 4.524 million persons, according to the centralized data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS)."Under one in four people in Romania lived in a household whose income was smaller than the established threshold of 60% of the median available income per adult-equivalent", the INS specifies.During the period of 2017-2020, poverty rate, estimated in relation to the established threshold, based on the level and distribution of income for the year for which the evaluation is being made, there was an oscillating evolution, the maximum being reached in 2019 (23.8%), and the minimum in 2020 (23.4%).The highest poverty incidence was registered during the years of 2017-2020 among children between up to 18 years old and youths, with ages between 18-24, roughly 3 out of 10 were under the poverty threshold, larger than the corresponding levels of adults.The poverty analysis, based on genders, in 2020, highlights a tendency to increase difference between men and women, from 1.3 to 2.5 percentage points.Last year, the highest poverty rates were registered in the regions of North-East (35.6%), South-West Oltenia (32.7%) and South-East (32.6%), and the smallest was recorded in Bucharest-Ilfov (2.4%).The National Institute of Statistics also mentions that an important factor in the emergence and intensifying the state of poverty is determined by the existence and number of children in the household they are part of. Poverty is more frequent among people who are living in households with dependant children (it reached 25.4% in 2020), than in the case of those who are living in households without children (20.8% in the last year).In 2020, among households with dependant children, the most strongly affected by poverty were large households, formed of 2 adults with 3 or more dependant children (more than half), single parent families, parent with at least one dependent child (almost three out of ten), of those with 3 or more adults or more adults with dependent children (a little over a quarter), but also persons from households formed of 2 adults and 2 dependent children (almost a quarter). In comparison with these, households formed of 2 adults and 1 dependant child were less affected by poverty (11%).The relative rate of poverty represents the ratio of poor persons (who have an available income per adult-equivalent smaller than the established threshold of 60% of the median of available income) in the total population.