LIVING CONDITIONS : 17% OF EU POPULATION AT RISK OF POVERTY.

In 2008, 17% of the population in the EU27 were at risk of poverty. This means that their income after social transfers was below the povertythreshold(1). Since 2005, the at risk of poverty' rate in the EU27 has been nearly stable, varying between 16% and 17%, according to data published by Eurostat, on 18 January, on the occasion of the opening conference of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, organised by the European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU, which takes place in Madrid on 21...