Working, yet poor: The dynamics behind Europe’s in-work poverty rate
October 2026
Abstract: In 2025, 8.3% of workers in the EU-27 were at risk of poverty. The same headline rate can emerge from very different situations - persistent poverty among people who remain in work, new entries into poverty among previously non-poor workers, or poverty among people who have just entered employment. Using longitudinal EU-SILC data we show that in-work poverty is highly persistent: workers who were already poor the year before form a small group, but most of them remain poor, and they account for more than half of the in-work poverty rate in most countries. Then, a job does not always end poverty: one in five people who have just entered employment is poor, six times the rate among workers who were already in work and not poor.
| Type: | Miscellaneous |
| Theme(s): | Income dynamics and mobility Poverty and social exclusion |
| Keywords: | in-work poverty |
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.
@MISC{pvk-2012,
Author = {D'Aguanno, Maria Cristina and Guio, Anne-Catherine and Van Kerm, Philippe},
Title = {Working, yet poor: {T}he dynamics behind {E}urope's in-work poverty rate},
Howpublished = {LISER Policy Brief 2026-21, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research},
Month = oct,
Year = {2026}
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