In-work poverty in Europe. A study of national policies

This synthesis report based on the in-depth national contributions prepared by the 35 Country Teams of the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) outlines five key findings:

• The in-work poor represent a substantial group among workers and their numbers continue to grow in many European countries, leading to a polarisation within the EU.
• In certain categories of the population (mostly young, low educated, non-standard workers, poor households with children including lone parents, workers and households with low work intensity) in-work poverty (IWP) is significantly higher and has in some cases been increasing significantly in recent years.
• Governments typically combine a variety of measures (such as minimum income, minimum wage, income replacement or supplement, active labour market policies, tackling labour market segmentation, family and in-work benefits) that directly influence IWP. However, most often IWP is not a stated policy goal. Moreover, a number of other policies and measures (such as childcare, housing and healthcare) which may only have an indirect impact on IWP are equally important to address this complex issue.
• Though the issue of IWP is not extensively discussed in policy discourse and action, most of the countries accelerated the pace of related policy reforms between 2015 and 2018.
• The commonly agreed EU indicators of IWP are a good basis for understanding and monitoring IWP, but some additional breakdowns of these indicators (such as IWP rates before and after social transfers) should be available on the Eurostat website.