Citizens’ Agora: ‘Crises and poverty’

This briefing note, comprising a series of background papers, provides an overview of estimations on the likely social impact of the financial and economic crisis and its expected effects on at-risk-of-poverty rates in the European Union. Available research highlights that in many cases the welfare systems in EU Member States may not be able to offer adequate protection to large groups of especially vulnerable members of society, as new social risks deriving from recent labour market and societal developments have not yet been fully addressed. EU cooperation in the field of fighting poverty and social exclusion could offer key inputs for the modernisation of social protection systems.