Income and taxes, income mobility
Persistent low income common among foreign born persons
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2019-04-29 9.30
Among Sweden’s population in 2017, 14 percent were at risk of poverty. Just over two thirds of those persons, or 10 percent of the population, were at persistent risk of poverty. This means that they were at risk of poverty in 2017 and during at least two of the three preceding years.
The percentage of persons who were at persistent risk of poverty varies widely among different groups. One in five foreign born persons was at persistent risk of poverty, while among Swedish born persons, this proportion was seven percent.
Among foreign born persons, there are also large differences between countries of birth. Among persons born in Africa, one out of three persons was at risk of poverty and among persons born in Asia, the corresponding figure was one out of four persons. Among persons born in Europe, this share was about 15 percent. The differences between persons born in a Nordic country and persons born in the rest of Europe are minor.
Persistent risk of poverty is less common among foreign born persons who have lived in Sweden for a long time compared with persons who have lived in Sweden for a shorter period of time. Among persons who have lived in Sweden for more than 20 years and are born in Africa, 19 percent were at persistent risk of poverty, and the corresponding figure among those born in Asia was 18 percent.
Among foreign born children living in Sweden, nearly 40 percent were at persistent risk of poverty, compared with 6 percent among children born in Sweden and who have two Swedish born parents.
Definitions and explanations
Persons at persistent risk of poverty refers to persons living in a household where the equivalised disposable income is below 60 percent of the national median during the reference year and during at least two out of the preceding three years. This is the same definition that Eurostat uses to calculate the persistent at-risk-of-poverty rate.
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.