Poverty and Social Assistance in Austria

With a share of 0.7 percent of social expenditure, social assistance reduced the risk of poverty among the Austrian population from 15.2 to 14.7 percent in 2020. Although only around 3 percent of the population receive social assistance, this last safety net fulfils an important function in the fight against poverty: for recipients, it reduced the at-risk-of-poverty rate from 62.4 to 50.4 percent and the at-risk-of-poverty gap from 52.0 to 26.4 percent (2020). Social assistance is particularly important for children, who are overrepresented among recipients, as well as for groups with a traditionally high risk of poverty, whose structure has not changed during the observation period (2008-2021). These include the unemployed, single parents, third-country nationals, persons with a low level of education and persons in poor health.