Poverty and Material Deprivation in the Member States of the EU

In the official statistics of the European Union, poverty still is being measured on the basis of the national relative poverty rates. However, it is highly questionable whether this definition is applicable to policy recommendations concerning the adjustment of living conditions in Europe. Based on the European Quality of Life Survey of 2003 and 2007, this article investigates the living conditions of the bottom-third of the income distribution. It can be shown that there is now considerably more social cohesion between the EU member states since the enlargement in 2004. However, polarization within the societies, particularly between the upper and the bottom echelons, also has increased.