What has the European Year Against Poverty given us?

Every sixth inhabitant of the old continent lives in poverty - the statistics are alarming. Poverty and exclusion are among the biggest challenges facing Europe today. Many politicians in Brussels and individual governments are doing everything possible to effectively stop the dangerous trend of an increase in the population of people without basic necessities. NGOs teach what poverty is and how to treat it with understanding.

Poverty, according to accepted definitions, takes many forms. It is difficult to establish a universal boundary that defines where poverty begins and ends. Those who live on less than a dollar a day live in extreme, so-called absolute poverty. The number of people in this position in the world is estimated at 2 billion people. That's over a third of humanity.

The objective of the European Year to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion was to show society that poverty and social exclusion are not marginal problems affecting only the homeless. Poverty is hidden in thousands of homes.

Poverty, appearing in a person's life, makes him enter a vicious circle. On the one hand, the lack of sufficient means of subsistence leads to the fact that this person socially alienates himself, ceases to participate in social and cultural life; on the other hand, he is removed from society by the unwillingness shown towards him.

However, in order for people living in poverty to become worthy people in the eyes of the rest of society, they must become such people in front of themselves and believe that they can get out of the crisis.

The European Year to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion is not only about working with the poor. An important goal set by the European and national authorities is to increase the susceptibility to the problem of poverty among all members of society. Combating the consequences of poverty and equalizing the standard of living of citizens requires public consent, which, unfortunately, is often lacking.