Poverty Looms Over One in Eight Germans, Official Survey Shows via Poverty News Blog
from BloombergBy Brian Parkin About one person in eight in Germany is threatened by poverty, according to a survey conducted for the first time by the Federal Statistics Office.In 2004, penury loomed over 10.6 million people whose monthly net income is 60 percent or less than a national mean of 1,427 euros ($1,891), the office said. That's about 13 percent of the 82 million people in Europe's biggest economy. Poverty may have even spread in 2005, said the office's deputy president.Income levels show that ``aspects of life in Germany are closed to some people,'' the office's Deputy President Walter Rademacher told reporters in Berlin. The threat of poverty may have grown last year after cuts in jobless benefits, he said.Germany has cut jobless benefits for people unemployed for more than...