Risk of poverty linked to childhood household situation

In 2023, 20.0% of adults aged 25 to 59 in the EU, who reported having a bad financial situation in their household around the age of 14, were at risk of poverty, compared with 12.4% of those who described their household’s financial situation at that age as good.

This data shows that socio-economic and financial situation during the teenage years might affect the standard of living in adulthood.

This article presents just a handful of findings from a more detailed Statistics Explained article on intergenerational transmission of disadvantages.

At the national level, Bulgaria reported the largest disparities in the risk of poverty considering the childhood financial situation of the household: 48.1% of those who reported bad financial situation in their household around age 14 were at risk of poverty, compared with14.4% of those who reported a good financial situation. Romania showed similar figures, with 42.1% and 14.6%, respectively. Italy followed with 34.0% compared with 14.4%.

In contrast, Denmark was the only country where adults who lived in financially disadvantaged households did not face a higher risk of poverty later on: 8.5% for those from households with bad financial situation against 8.9% for those with good financial situation. The differences between the 2 groups were also small in Slovenia (10.9% and 10.4%) and Finland (10.1% and 9.2%).

For more information

Key figures on European living conditions – 2024 edition

Statistics Explained article on intergenerational transmission of disadvantages

Thematic section on income and living conditions

Database on income and living conditions 

Source: ec.europa.eu