Third of Disabled in EU Risked Poverty or Social Exclusion in 2013:Eurostat

Every third EU-resident with special needs risked poverty or could be excluded from social life in 2013, a Eurostat report reads.

MOSCOW, December 2 (Sputnik) - Around one third of disabled people in the European Union were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2013, the EU statistical agency Eurostat reported Tuesday.

"The gap existing between non-disabled and disabled persons was also noticeable for social inclusion: while the at-risk of poverty or social exclusion rate was just over 20% for non-disabled people aged 16 and over (21.4%) in the EU28 in 2013, this share stood at almost 30% for disabled persons (29.9%)," the report read.

#IDPD: almost a third of disabled adults in the EU at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2013 #Eurostat http://t.co/04zOmcxnlm

— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) 2 декабря 2014

The paper stressed that the "situation of disabled persons in the EU28 is less favourable than that of non-disabled people," pointing to the fact that only 47.3 percent of disabled people in the European Union aged between 15 and 64 had a job in 2011. The number of non-disabled people in employment belonging to the same age group stood at 66.9 percent that year.

The greatest disparity was recorded in Bulgaria, where 63.7 percent of disabled persons were deemed to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Only 44.1 percent of non-disabled Bulgarians found themselves in a similar situation.

Disabled people were most likely to be in employment if they lived in Sweden, with 66.2 percent of disabled people employed there in 2011; while Hungary was the worst place to be in the EU28, with only 23.7 percent of disabled people gaining access to the workforce then.

The Eurostat data was released ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which falls on December 3. This initiative was launched by the United Nations in 1992 with the aim of promoting support for disabled people.