According to data from the General Equality Association, (Paritätischer Gesamtverband) many people in Germany spend more than a third of their income on rent alone, some even more than half.
The association recently published a study in which a new calculation is made of data from the Federal Statistical Office to assess poverty in Germany. For the first time, the income that remains to citizens after removing the costs of the apartment, heating and electricity is taken into account.
21.2% of the population in Germany, which means 17.5 million people, are affected by poverty due to housing costs. "If housing costs were taken into consideration, an additional, hitherto unconsidered group of 5.4 million people living below the poverty line would emerge," the study points out.
The study also analysed the groups most affected by this phenomenon: 21.7 of citizens with social difficulties due to housing costs are aged 65 and over. But also, young people, especially those between the ages of 18 and 25, are on the verge of poverty. The poverty rate among this group is 31%. The poverty rate is high due to housing costs even among single-parent families, 36%. Singles, especially those of retirement age, are also quite at risk, the quota here is 41.7%.
In the EU, a person who has less than 60% of the average equivalent income is considered poor or "at risk of social exclusion". In Germany, according to the Federal Statistical Office, there are about 12 million Germans affected by poverty, specifically one in seven (14.3%).
