Slovenia places among the top three countries in the EU with the smallest inequality of income distribution, according to a report on the social situation in Europe which the European Commission released on Thursday. Slovenia is preceded only by Sweden and Denmark.
The Commission pointed out that countries with higher equality of income distribution, measured by the Gini coefficient, also have higher economic growth.
In terms of median income, Slovenia parallels Italy. An income that is under 60% of the median income have only 16% of the population, while the EU average is 25%.
According to the report, 238,000 Slovenians live below the poverty line. About 60% of them are people of working age, 25% are seniors and 15% children.
Senior single women comprise the biggest share of poor people (about 15%), couples with one or two children and only one employed parent follow with 14%, while single people under the age of 65 without a full-time job comprise 10% of the country's poor.
The report also measured households' access to various essential goods and services. The share of households that cannot afford a car is relatively low in the old and higher in the new members, except in Slovenia and Cyprus.
Slovenia is listed between Italy and Austria, where the share of population unable to afford a car is less than 5%, while Latvia topped the list with a 38% share.
Less than a tenth of Slovenians cannot afford a meal of meat or fish every other day, which is close to Austria's share. In comparison, the share of Slovaks unable to eat meat regularly is as high as 40%.
Portugal was listed as the country with the most unequal wealth distribution in the EU and it is the only member state to where inequality is greater than in the US.
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