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The ABSPO project was a European Commission pilot initiative to develop the first cross-country comparable measure of absolute poverty in the EU. The measure is grounded in the minimum needs of individuals and households, tailored to their composition and circumstances, and accounts for differences in the cost of living between and within Member States. Under my coordination, and together with colleagues from the Joint Research Centre, we built a comprehensive framework of methods and data, the main results of which are now published as an open-access book, Measuring and Monitoring Absolute Poverty in the European Union (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025).
Focusing on minimum living standards can fundamentally change how we perceive poverty and social exclusion across the EU. Absolute poverty rates range from 2% to 43% across Member States, a much wider spread than conventional indicators suggest. Over the past decade (2013-2023), the EU-wide rate fell from 20% to 11.7% – a little-known success of upward convergence. Beyond monitoring, the ABSPO approach also offers practical benchmarks for policy, from assessing the adequacy of minimum wages and social benefits to analysing affordability.
Measuring and Monitoring Absolute Poverty in the European Union
Menyhert, B., Cseres-Gergely, Zs., Kvedaras, V., Mina, B., Pericoli, F. and Zec, S.
Palgrave Macmillan (2025)
Fueled by the recent cost of living crisis and compounding social policy challenges, absolute poverty measurement is rapidly gaining relevance in many advanced economies. Focusing on individuals’ and households’ minimum financial needs, absolute measures of poverty are well suited to support adequate social protection schemes and time-consistent social monitoring.
This new open access publication gives a comprehensive overview of the art and science of absolute poverty measurement in an EU-wide context. It summarizes the lessons learnt from the ABSPO exploratory research project carried out by the European Commission, tasked with designing and implementing the first cross-country comparable measurement of absolute poverty in the EU. Presented as a methodological handbook for practitioners and social policy experts, the relevant material covers all aspects of the measurement process and offers a novel framework, innovative methodologies and pioneering data analysis. Taking a decidedly forward-looking and international approach to poverty thinking, ABSPO measurement tools help identify new forms and patterns of social exclusion among European societies that call for further research, improved social monitoring and effective policy action.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
JRC Science for Policy Brief, JRC148022, Publication Office of the European Union, September 2026
Measuring and monitoring absolute poverty (ABSPO) - Final Report
Original project report by B. Menyhert, Zs. Cseres-Gergely, V. Kvedaras, B. Mina, F. Pericoli and S. Zec
Published as a JRC Technical Report (JRC127444) by the Publications Office of the European Union,
Menyhert, B. Absolute poverty measurement with minimum food needs: A new inverse method for advanced economies
Social Indicators Research, Vol. 173. (2024)
Menyhert, B. Absolute poverty in the European Union: First results of a concerted measurement effort
(forthcoming)
Menyhert, B. and Mina, B. Know your onions. Food consumption and dietary patterns of European households
(forthcoming)
Menyhert, B. and Thiele, S. A new set of cross-country comparable nutritional food reference baskets for the EU
(forthcoming)
Menyhert, B. Monetary deprivation: A new policy-relevant indicator of social exclusion in the EU
(forthcoming)
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