Europe's year for combating poverty has kicked off just as figures are released for November show EU-wide unemployment has hit 9.5% (10% for the euro area). This compares to 7.5% in 2008 (8% in the euro countries).
The European Commission has published its yearly review of social trends in EU countries and notes that in 2006, 16% of EU-27 citizens lived under the poverty threshold defined as 60% of their country's median income.
Tackling poverty in 2010 is going to be a challenge since the European region has nearly 23 million unemployed. Even being in employment doesn't necessarily protect against poverty as the European Commission estimates 8% of its working citizens live under the poverty threshold.
The mixed successes of crisis measures taken by member states and rising unemployment levels mean the EU's attempts to tackle poverty will be more difficult and yet more critical than ever. How enterprise can contribute to this campaign will be critical.
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