In Lithuania the at–risk–of–poverty rate last year was 20% and one in five people in Lithuania was at risk of poverty, informs public broadcaster LRT, referring to the Lithuanian Statistics Department.
«Compared to 2020, the at–risk–of–poverty rate has decreased by 0.9% and by 2.9% over four years,» said Inga Masiulaitytė–Šukevič, Deputy Director of the Lithuanian Statistics Department.
Last year, the poverty risk threshold was 483 euros per month for a single person and 1 015 euros for a family of two adults and two children under 14. At–risk–of–poverty rate was 17.4% in urban areas and 25.4% in rural areas.
The highest rate was recorded in the 65+ age group, at almost 36%.
However, the highest poverty risk level was found in households consisting of a single mother or a single father with children, at least one of whom was under 25 years old. Among those employed, 7.5% were below the poverty risk threshold, compared to 50% of those unemployed.
According to Masiulaitytė–Šukevič, the absolute poverty rate in the country was almost 4%.
Moreover, 36.4% of the population lived in households that would not be able to meet the 380–euro contingency from their own resources. Around 9% of households were unable to eat meat, fish, or equivalent vegetarian food at least every other day. Also, 33.5% of households could not spend at least one week of their holidays away from home.
«Children at risk of poverty were not only forced to restrict their leisure needs due to lack of funds but were also undernourished, and a large proportion had to make do with second-hand clothes,» Masiulaitytė–Šukevič said.