1 in 3 Romanians cannot afford get together with family/friends

Around one in three Romanians reported in 2014 not being able to afford get togethers with family and friends at least once a month. In addition, more than half of the population said they could not afford to participate in a leisure activity.

A total of 36.5 percent of respondents participating in the EU-SILC survey said they could not afford a monthly get together, such as a meal or drinks, with family or friends. In particular, the elderly in Romania are particularly affected. In the age group over 65, the share reaches 43 percent.

Data coming from neighboring countries such as Hungary and Bulgaria show a similar picture. Namely, around one third of the population in Hungary, (36.5 percent) and Bulgaria (30 percent) reported the same. High shares were also recorded in Greece (20.7 percent), Malta (19.2 percent), Ireland (18.4 percent) and Lithuania (17.4 percent).

At the opposite end the scale, the share was below 1 percent in all age groups in Sweden. Less than 5 percent of the population feel unable to get together with friends or family for a drink or a meal at least once a month also in Finland (1.5 percent), Denmark (3.2 percent), the Netherlands (3.3 percent), the Czech Republic (3.4 percent) and Luxembourg (4.1 percent).

Moreover, more than half (56.1 percent) of the population of Romania reported they could not afford to regularly participate in a leisure activity, followed by Bulgaria (37.5 percent), Lithuania (35.2 percent) and Hungary (32.4 percent). In contrast, less than 5 percent of the population feel unable to regularly participate in a leisure activity in Finland (3.2 percent), Luxembourg (4.0 percent) and Sweden (4.2 percent). In most Member States, the working age population is particularly affected. The only exceptions are Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom, where the share is higher among the young, and Estonia, Romania and Latvia, where it is higher among the elderly.

The data was extracted from a special data collection of 2014 on complementary variables on material deprivation, are issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Georgeta Gheorghe