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Poverty trends in Luxembourg 1985- 2023 — A race between the ‘middle’ and the ‘bottom’
January 2026
Abstract: In December 2025, the Luxembourg government adopted its first National Action Plan to prevent and combat poverty, demonstrating a renewed political commitment to addressing a challenge that has intensified over the past four decades. To inform this effort, this policy brief examines the evolution of poverty in Luxembourg between 1985 and 2023 using harmonized data from the Luxembourg Income Study. It documents disparities in poverty risk across different age groups, positions Luxembourg within the context of other high-income countries and highlights a key structural driver of rising measured poverty: the upward trend in poverty is fueled by increasing poverty thresholds in ‘a race between the bottom and the middle. By documenting long-term trends transparently, the brief provides an evidence base supporting informed policy decisions’.
| Type: | Miscellaneous |
| Theme(s): | Poverty and social exclusion |
| Keywords: | Luxembourg, poverty |
Reference
Fusco, A. & Van Kerm, P. (2026), 'Poverty trends in Luxembourg 1985- 2023 — A race between the ‘middle’ and the ‘bottom’', LISER Policy Brief 2026-01, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research.
@MISC{pvk-2009,
Author = {Fusco, Alessio and Van Kerm, Philippe},
Title = {Poverty trends in {L}uxembourg 1985- 2023 --- {A} race between the `middle' and the `bottom'},
Howpublished = {LISER Policy Brief 2026-01, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research},
Month = jan,
Year = {2026}
}Download links
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Presentation(s) of this work (PVK only)
The evolution of poverty in Luxembourg over the last 40 years... or so. 5th (LIS)2ER workshop on Policies to Fight Inequality, Luxembourg, 2024.
Que nous disent 40 ans d'enquêtes sur les conditions de vie au Luxembourg à propos de l'évolution des inégalités économiques?. 13ème Colloque International Francophone sur les Sondages, Esch/Alzette, 2024.
Inequality trends in Luxembourg in (almost) 40 years of household income data. 40th LIS Anniversary Conference, Luxembourg, 2023.
SDG #1: No poverty!. University of Luxembourg Sustainability Lunchtalks, e-Esch/Alzette, 2023.
Dataset(s) used in the paper
Other papers using the same datasets...
Sauer, P., Van Kerm, P. & Checchi, D. (2025), 'Higher Education Expansion and Labour Income Inequality in High-income Countries: A Gender-specific Perspective', Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper 837, LIS Cross-National Data Center, Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg.
Sauer, P. & Van Kerm, P. (2021), 'Higher Education Expansion and Inequality in Labour Incomes: The Importance of a Gendered Perspective', Inequality Matters 18, LIS Cross-National Data Center, Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg.
Jenkins, S.P. & Van Kerm, P. (2009), 'The measurement of economic inequality', in W. Salverda, B. Nolan & T.M. Smeeding, Oxford Handbook on Economic Inequality, Oxford University Press, Ch.3, pp.40-67.
Kyzyma, I., Fusco, A. & Van Kerm, P. (2022), 'Distributional Change: Assessing the Contribution of Household Income Sources', Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 84(1), 158-184.
Hildebrand, V.A., Pi Alperin, M.N. & Van Kerm, P. (2017), 'Measuring and accounting for the deprivation gap of Portuguese immigrants in Luxembourg', Review of Income and Wealth, 63(2), 288-309.
Brosius, J. & Van Kerm, P. (2014), 'Les inégalités de salaire', in E. Marlier, J. Brosius, V. Dautel, A. Decoville, F. Durand, P. Gerber & A.-C. Guio, Cohésion sociale et territoriale au Luxembourg, Regards croisés, Peter Lang, Brussels.
Bia, M. & Van Kerm, P. (2014), 'Space-filling location selection', Stata Journal, 14(3), 605-622.
Van Kerm, P. (2013), 'Generalized measures of wage differentials', Empirical Economics, 45(1), 465-482.
Fusco, A. & Van Kerm, P. (2008), 'La progression du niveau de vie entre 2003 et 2006', Vivre au Luxembourg -- Chroniques de l'enquête PSELL-3 48, CEPS/INSTEAD, Differdange, Luxembourg.
Van Kerm, P. & Villeret, A. (2007), 'Difficile de joindre les deux bouts? La satisfaction des ménages luxembourgeois quant à leur situation financière', Vivre au Luxembourg -- Chroniques de l'enquête PSELL-3 36, CEPS/INSTEAD, Differdange, Luxembourg.
Van Kerm, P. (2005), 'Qui se ressemble s'assemble?', Vivre au Luxembourg -- Chroniques de l'enquête PSELL-3 10, CEPS/INSTEAD, Differdange, Luxembourg.
Van Kerm, P. (2006), 'Gender differences in wage growth and promotion in Luxembourg', in B. Mahy, R. Plasman & F. Ryckx, Gender pay differentials: Cross-national evidence from micro-data, Applied Econometrics Association Series, Palgrave MacMillan, pp.76-95.
Other papers on the same theme(s)
D'Aguanno, M.C., Guio, A.-C. & Van Kerm, P. (2026), 'Working, yet poor: The dynamics behind Europe’s in-work poverty rate', LISER Policy Brief 2026-21, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research.
D'Aguanno, M.C., Guio, A.-C. & Van Kerm, P. (2026), 'Cross-country evidence on the individual dynamics of in-work poverty in the EU', Economic Systems, 50(2), 101360.
Fusco, A. & Van Kerm, P. (2023), 'Measuring Poverty Persistence', in J. Silber, Research Handbook on Measuring Poverty and Deprivation, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham Glos , UK, Ch.18, pp.192-200.
Muller, A., Peluso, E., Van Kerm, P. & Laborderie, V. (2023), 'Inégalité et pauvreté', D'Lëtzebuerger Land.
Lisina, A. & Van Kerm, P. (2022), 'Understanding Twenty Years of Inequality and Poverty Trends in Russia', Review of Income and Wealth, 68(S1), 108-130.
Morelli, S., Nolan, B., Palomino, J.C. & Van Kerm, P. (2021), 'Inheritance, gifts and the accumulation of wealth for low-income households', Journal of European Social Policy, 31(5), 533-548.
Fusco, A., Gallo, G. & Van Kerm, P. (2021), 'Rotation Group Bias in the Estimation of EU Social Indicators', in A.-C. Guio, E. Marlier & B. Nolan, Improving the understanding of poverty and social exclusion in Europe, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, Ch.17, pp.295-312.
Jenkins, S.P. & Van Kerm, P. (2017), 'How does attrition affect estimates of persistent poverty rates? The case of EU-SILC', in A.B. Atkinson, A.-C. Guio & E. Marlier, Monitoring Social Inclusion in Europe, Eurostat, European Commission, Luxembourg, Ch.22, pp.402-417.
Hildebrand, V.A., Pi Alperin, M.N. & Van Kerm, P. (2017), 'Measuring and accounting for the deprivation gap of Portuguese immigrants in Luxembourg', Review of Income and Wealth, 63(2), 288-309.
Jenkins, S.P. & Van Kerm, P. (2014), 'The Relationship between EU Indicators of Persistent and Current Poverty', Social Indicators Research, 116(2), 611-638.
Jenkins, S.P. & Van Kerm, P. (2011), 'Patterns of persistent poverty: evidence from EU-SILC', ISER Working Paper 2011-30, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Colchester, UK.
Van Kerm, P. & Villeret, A. (2007), 'Difficile de joindre les deux bouts? La satisfaction des ménages luxembourgeois quant à leur situation financière', Vivre au Luxembourg -- Chroniques de l'enquête PSELL-3 36, CEPS/INSTEAD, Differdange, Luxembourg.
Van Kerm, P. (2004), 'Une évaluation économétrique des flux vers et hors de la pauvreté en Belgique', in R. Doutrelepont, D. Mortelmans & M.-T. Casman, Onze ans de vie en Belgique. Analyses socio-économiques à partir du Panel Démographie Familiale, Science et société, Academia Press, Gent, Belgium, pp.251-272.
Van Kerm, P. (2002), 'Une perspective longitudinale sur la pauvreté en Belgique', Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, 2002/03, 23-36.
Van Kerm, P. (2002), 'How much low income turnover is there in Belgium?', in P. Moyes, C. Seidl & A. Shorrocks, Inequalities: Theory, experiments and applications, Journal of Economics supplement issues9, Springer-Verlag, Vienna, Austria, pp.341-363.
Gevers, L. & Van Kerm, P. (2000), 'Evolution récente de la dispersion des revenus et de la pauvreté en Belgique. Que nous apprennent les bases de données socio-économiques fédérales?', in B. Jurion & P. Pestieau, Finances publiques, finances privées, Les Editions de l'Université de Liège, Belgium, pp.59-74.
Van Kerm, P. (1999), 'Computing poverty indices', Stata Technical Bulletin, 48, 29-33.