Cyprus has managed to achieve pre-financial crisis poverty and social exclusion levels recording a percentage of 23.9% by the end of 2018 compared to 25.2% the year before.
This is what an Income and Living Conditions Survey carried out by the island’s Statistics Service with 2017 as the income reference year shows.
The survey used a sample of 4,192 households from urban and rural areas of all districts of Cyprus.
The highest poverty and social exclusion level in Cyprus was recorded in 2015 when it reached a high of 28.9%.
As for the Gini coefficient, which calculates inequality in the distribution of income among members of society, this was 29.1% in 2018 compared to 30.8% in 2017. It reached an all-time-high in 2014 with 34.8%.
Before the financial crisis the coefficient was 29.2% for 2011, 31% for 2012 and 32.4% in 2013.
If the incomes were equally distributed to the population then the Gini coefficient would be 0%.
But if all the income was concentrated by one person, then the Gini coefficient would be 100%. Increase in the Gini coefficient entails an increase in inequality.
As for the indicator on severely material-deprived households, which are those that cannot even pay their electricity or water bills, this decreased to it 10.2% in 2018 compared to 11.5% in 2017.
In addition, the proportion of the population, aged 0-59, living in households with very low work volume indicators, this also decreased in 2018. It reached 8.6% compared to 9.4% in 2017.
Low work volume indicator refers to adults in a household working less than 20% of their total capacity.
Read more:
https://in-cyprus.com/cyprus-one-in-six-eu-countries-with-no-national-minimum-wage/
