(15 February 201) – Reducing poverty and social inequality has become the main policy priority for EU citizens, a new survey commissioned by the European Parliament has shown.
The yearly Eurobarometer survey of the European Parliament was conducted by the data consultancy Kantar between November and December 2020, thus taking into account the first impact of the pandemic on public perceptions.
Nearly half the respondents (48%) believe the fight against poverty should be put at the top of the European Parliament’s agenda, an increase of 17% compared to the last edition of the survey.
In a recent forecast drafted by the World Bank, COVID-19 is considered having a clear impact on the global poor, pushing some 88 million to 115 million people into extreme poverty during 2020.
Shadows of concern about the rise in inequality worldwide due to the pandemic were also recently cast in a research published by the NGO Oxfam. According to this study, it could take more than a decade to recover from the economic hit of the pandemic, meanwhile pushing more people into poverty. (EurActiv)