h/t Gates of Vienna
About 3.1 million wage and salary earners in Germany had an income below the poverty threshold, according to Saturday's edition of the SaarbrĂźcker Zeitung newspaper.
The paper cited an overview from Germany's Federal Statistical Office showing the most recent available data, which covered the year 2013. It also showed the numbers of workers struggling to make ends meet jumped from about 2.5 million in 2008 - an increase of 25 percent in five years.
Data, based on household surveys, showed that those living on low wages were cutting back on food and heating, among other things, to save money. According to a special analysis by the statisticians, in 2013 some 538,000 low-wage workers were eating a full meal only every second day in an effort to save money on food. About 417,000 were going without adequate heating and almost 380,000 people could not afford to pay their rent on time. |