According to Eurostat statistics released to the Bundestag at the request of parliamentarians from the German political party The Left, 13.4 million Germans live below the poverty line.
The average income among Germans threatened by poverty is 719 euros, which is 30% below the official limit of 1,033 euros. Given that in 2015 the official poverty level was set at 1,033 euros per month, it is clear that many Germans are living well below the average official poverty line.
According to the EU definition, “threatened with poverty” refers to someone who lives on less that 60% of the average income of the total population of a country.
“Life in Germany on just 1,033 euros per month is a permanent struggle to pay the bills,” Sabine Zimmerman wrote in Saarbrucker Zeitung, the Die Linke expert on social issues. “Millions of citizens have significantly less that this amount at their disposal and often lack the bare necessities of life.”