Special Eurobarometer 279: Poverty and exclusion

The Directorate-General Employment of the European Commission commissioned a survey that examines public opinion about poverty and exclusion in the European Union. Between the 14th of February and the 18th of March 2007, TNS Opinion & Social, a consortium formed by TNS and EOS Gallup Europe interviewed 26,466 EU citizens aged 15 and over living in the 27 European Union Member States and 1,000 residents of Croatia. This report studies the following issues related to poverty and exclusion covered by the survey. ♦ First of all, we focus on the perceived existence of poverty in the European Union: to what extent are Europeans themselves affected by poverty and to what extent do they see poverty in the area in which they live? In this chapter we furthermore look at attitudes towards poverty: is it an inherited or acquired condition, what causes poverty and why do people live in need? ♦ The second part of the report focuses on one of the most extreme forms of exclusion, homelessness: why do people become homeless, what is the perceived risk of becoming homeless oneself and what do Europeans do to help homeless people? ♦ In the final part we examine what Europeans regard necessary in order to have a decent standard of living with regards to financial means, housing needs, ownership of durable goods, basic necessities and social integration. We also look specifically at people’s views concerning the requirements and the needs of children to live and develop well. We end the report with an examination of how people’s attitudes towards poverty relate to what they consider necessary for a decent standard of living. #####The results by volumes are distributed as follows: * Volume A: Countries * Volume AA: Groups of countries * Volume A' (AP): Trends * Volume AA' (AAP): Trends of groups of countries * Volume B: EU/socio-demographics * Volume B' (BP) : Trends of EU/ socio-demographics * Volume C: Country/socio-demographics ---- Researchers may also contact GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences: [https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer](https://www.gesis.org/eurobarometer)