The politician calls the genie and asks:
- I want there are no poor people in our country!
Suddenly the door opens, the secretary rushes in and screams in horror:
- All the poor died there!
After acquaintance with the study of statisticians, the question remains open: do our poor people become rich or they die? In any case, they are becoming less and less. Thus, the number of poor people in Latvia has decreased from 19.2% of the total population in 2014 to 16.4% in 2015.
However, there are still many those who are at risk of getting into this category. CSO has summarized data for 2014 and found that 606,000 people, or 30.9% of the population, are exposed to the risk of poverty in such a small country as Latvia.
Another conclusion that can be made from the CSO survey. Not to become poor in Latvia, the following should not be done: a) ageing, b) having children, c) divorcing, d) losing job.
Thus, the risk of becoming poor for Latvians over 65 years is 34.6%. Lonely elderly people are exposed to even higher risk of poverty - 67.4%.
Single-parent families where a single mother raises a child are at a very high risk: 37% of these families are on the brink of poverty.
The unemployed are also predictably poor. In this unfortunately large group of Latvia’s population, 55% are subject to the risk of poverty.
Into what financial hole can get all these people, who can be considered poor Latvia, and who only pretends to be poor? “Rich/poor” evaluation is very subjective: somewhere in Madagascar, you can feel yourself a well-off person with a monthly salary of 100 euros while in Luxembourg even with 2,000 euros you are followed by a steady scent of poverty.
To avoid confusion, own scale is established in Latvia for assessment of personal financial success. Thus, the “deeply financially unsecured” Latvian is a person who cannot afford at least four of the following nine things:
1) pay the utility bill,
2) pay the heating bill,
3) pay unexpected expenses,
4) at least once in two days have a meat or fish dish,
5) at least once a year go to rest for a week,
6) buy a passenger car,
7) buy a washing machine,
8) buy a color TV,
9) by a cell phone.
