Romania is among the European countries with the highest shares of people over 16 years of age with disabilities at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to Eurostat data analysed by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Romania Foundation.
According to the foundation, 38.4% of people with disabilities in Romania were, in 2024, at risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared to the European Union average of 28.7%. High percentages are also recorded in Lithuania (45.8%), Bulgaria (43.5%) and Croatia (40.2%), while significantly lower values are found in the Czech Republic (15.6%), Slovakia (19.7%) and Austria (21.5%).
Although it remains at a high level, the share of people with disabilities in Romania at risk of poverty and social exclusion has decreased by more than 10 percentage points in the last decade, from 49.1% in 2015, to 45.2% in 2020 and to 38.4% in 2024. At the European Union level, the decrease was much smaller, from 30.4% in 2015 to 28.7% in 2024.
However, the risk of poverty and social exclusion remains considerably higher among people with disabilities compared with the population without disabilities. In Romania, 38.5% of people with disabilities face this risk, as against 24.1% of people without disabilities, which represents a gap of about 14%, one of the highest in the European Union.
The main explanation for this high level is the high share of people with disabilities in severe material and social deprivation. Although the indicator decreased significantly in the last ten years, from 41% in 2015 to 26.7% in 2024, Romania remains well above the EU average of 10.4%, ranking alongside Bulgaria (27.1%) among the countries with the highest severe material and social deprivation rates. At the same time, Romania has the largest gap in the EU between people with and without disabilities in this indicator, of about 13%.
Another explanation for the decrease in the share of people with disabilities at risk of poverty or social exclusion is the high impact of social transfers (allowances, pensions, social aid) on reducing the risk of monetary poverty. In 2024, the share of people with disabilities at risk of poverty before social transfers was 78.5%, reaching 22% after social transfers. Social transfers, which include pensions, allowances, tax exemptions, reduced poverty by 56 percent. The reduction is similar to the EU average, which had 68% of people with disabilities at risk of poverty before social transfers, 21% after social transfers.
The main problem for people with disabilities remains the high level of material and social deprivation. The phenomenon is explained by additional expenses generated by disability, which reduce the ability of households to afford goods and services considered essential for a decent standard of living.
The fact that social transfers, including pensions and allowances, significantly reduce the share of people with disabilities at risk of poverty indicates the adequacy of the current social support scheme, which should be maintained or even extended. Among the public policy solutions put forward is the non-inclusion of allowances granted to persons with disabilities in the calculation of eligibility and conditionalities for the minimum inclusion income, an instrument intended to mitigate poverty.
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