Page 6 - IDEA Studie 8 2022 Chudoba

CHUDOBA A SOCIÁLNÍ DÁVKY V SOCIÁLNĚ VYLOUČENÝCH LOKALITÁCH IDEA 2022 • Our analysis shows that the Czech social system targets people at risk of poverty well. 94% of households at risk of poverty in the SEL and 73% living in the general population are entitled to at least one social benefit. Of the households in the general population and in the SEL that are not at risk of poverty, just under a quarter of households are entitled to some social benefit. These are primarily sickness and family benefits, which do not target poverty reduction, but are either compulsory insurance benefits or benefits aimed to support families. • While in the general population, the median household is above the poverty line even based on only their own net market income, in SEL households overall, average median income falls below the poverty line even when all social income received by households is included in calculations. The median SEL household would only move above the poverty line if it were receiving all of the social benefits to which it is entitled. • The share of households below the poverty line in SELs when social benefits are not included in the calculation is 56.5%. Thanks to the receipt of social benefits, this percentage falls to less than 52%. If households received all the social benefits to which they are entitled, SEL households at risk of poverty would be reduced to 45.6%. Some households have such low incomes that even full benefits do not lift them above the poverty line, but do bring them significantly closer to it. Although some social benefits are ineffective at reducing the risk of poverty, they can significantly reduce the so-called poverty gap, i.e., the degree to which their income falls below the poverty line. • Low take-up of benefits by eligible households is a problem in both the general population and in SELs. The largest gap between eligibility and receipt exists for housing benefits, which has the greatest potential to reduce the at-risk-of-poverty rate. In SELs, about half of households should be eligible for housing benefits, but only 12% of households report receiving it. Large differences between receipt and entitlement also exist for assistance in material need benefits and child benefits. • Clarifying and addressing the reasons some available social benefits are underused and thus fail to play their potential role in reducing poverty among low-income households should be a social policy priority. However, studies on this topic are still lacking in the Czech Republic. 4