Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – According to figures from the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband, social inequality has increased again in North Rhine-Westphalia as a result of the Corona crisis. At 18.7 percent, the poverty risk rate in NRW has risen again compared to the previous year (17.6), as the association announced at the presentation of the “Poverty Report 2022” on Wednesday in Berlin. Nationwide, the rate is 16.6 percent. The Ruhr region, with a poverty rate of 21.1 percent, remains one of the nationwide problem zones.
The social association VdK was shocked by the numbers. NRW state chairman Horst Vöge: “Many instruments of the traffic light coalition have so far hardly relieved households with a low income or a low pension. This is why more and more people are having problems making ends meet.” The new NRW state government must therefore now keep its pre-election promises and push ahead with the relief packages in the Bundesrat, according to a VdK statement.
The report is based on figures from the Federal Statistical Office. In wealthy countries like Germany, poverty is not defined in terms of direct hardship such as hunger or homelessness. The focus is rather on the question of whether the household income is sufficient for social participation. The at-risk-of-poverty rate indicates the proportion of the population that has to get by on less than 60 percent of the median income.
