On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October 2015, AGE reminds the European Union of its target of reducing poverty by 20 million between 2008 and 2020 and of its obligation with regard to people’s right to live independently and in dignity, which is enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights but currently denied for one in five Europeans over 50 living at risk of poverty.
To mark that day, AGE sent a press release, which:
- warns of the negative impact of recent pension reforms in particular on older women and older persons with disability;
- calls for adequate minimum incomes, based on national reference budgets which would enable older people to live in dignity;
- urges the European Commission and the EU member states to pay more attention to social issues in the European Semester exercise.
The issue of gender inequality as regards poverty risk in old age has also been raised by the European Commission in a recent article highlighting a clear differences between men and women above the age of 65 across the European Union.