Poverty in Europe: Sociodemographics, Portfolios, and Consumption of Wealth‐Poor Households

Philip Müller

Poverty & Public Policy, 2017, vol. 9, issue 3, 306-330

Abstract: In this article, I describe the portfolio structure of poor households within the euro area (EA) using microdata from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), the Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS), and the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS). My approach differs from existing ones in that I analyze the (net) wealth‐poor instead of the income‐poor households. I am able to identify households in the bottom net wealth decile and study their portfolio structure. From a methodological point of view, my study shows that a poverty indicator based on households’ net wealth needs to be designed and interpreted with great care. Given that wealth accumulates over time and (high‐ income) households can borrow against their future income stream, it is not clear whether low net wealth holdings are really indicative of being poor, for example, in the sense of material deprivation or consumption opportunities. As consumption can be financed from wealth and income, an indicator combining wealth and income may be a solution. I find significant heterogeneity in the portfolios of households in the bottom net wealth decile across countries. The characteristics of the group of households with low wealth are different across countries as well. Real assets are held by fewer less wealthy households than financial assets, and almost all wealth‐poor households own deposits and sight accounts, but only a few have mortgage debt. Wealth‐poor households are, on average, smaller than other households, and their heads are younger. Additionally, less wealthy households are not the unemployed households with low education levels. In some countries, highly educated household heads and full‐time employees belong to the wealth‐poor. The poor households spend, on average, about 20 percent of their gross income on food. 欧洲贫困:财富贫困家庭的社会人口统计、资产组合和消费 本文对欧元区内贫困家庭资产组合结构（portfolio structure）进行了描述。描述中所用的微观数据来自家庭金融与消费调查（Household Finance and Consumption Survey, 简称HFCS）、卢森堡财富研究（Luxembourg Wealth Study，简称LWS）和卢森堡收入研究所（ Luxembourg Income Study，简称LIS）。本文使用的方法与现有方法的不同在于，本文分析了（净）财富贫困家庭，而不是收入贫困家庭。本文能识别出净财富排名倒数前十的家庭，并分析其资产组合结构。本文发现，不同国家中净财富排名倒数前十的家庭资产组合具备显著的异质性（heterogeneity）。不同国家低财富家庭的特征也存在不同。比起金融资产，低财富家庭拥有的实物资产更少，同时几乎所有的财富贫困家庭都有存款和活期存款账户（sight accounts），仅有一些家庭有抵押债务。财富贫困家庭平均比其他家庭更小，并且户主也更年轻。此外，低财富家庭并不是拥有低学历的待业家庭。在一些国家，高学历家庭户主和全职员工都处于财富贫困阶段。平均每个贫困家庭都会花费近20%的总收入用于购买食物。 La pobreza en Europa: Sociodemografía, portafolios y consumo de hogares con baja riqueza En este artículo describimos la estructura de portafolio de hogares pobres dentro de la zona euro utilizando micro‐datos de la Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), el Luxemburg Wealth Study (LWS) y el Luxemburg Income Study (LIS). Nuestro método difiere de los ya existentes porque analizamos los hogares bajos en riqueza (neta) en vez de los hogares de bajos ingresos. Podemos identificar hogares en el decil más bajo de riqueza neta y estudiamos su estructura de portafolio. Encontramos una heterogeneidad significativa en los portafolios de los hogares en el decil de riqueza neta más bajo en varios países. Las características del grupo de hogares con baja riqueza son diferentes en varios países también. Los verdaderos recursos le pertenecen a menos hogares con baja riqueza que recursos financieros y a casi todos los hogares de baja riqueza les pertenecen depósitos y cuentas corrientes, pero solo unos pocos tienen deudas hipotecarias. Los hogares con baja riqueza son, en promedio, más pequeños que otros hogares y su cabeza familiar es más joven. Además, los hogares menos ricos no son los hogares con desempleo y con niveles bajos de educación. En algunos países las cabezas de familia con más educación y empleados de tiempo completo pertenecen a los hogares bajos en riqueza. Los hogares pobres gastan, en promedio, más o menos 20 por ciento de sus ingresos en comida.

Date: 2017
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