Selection

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This table includes additional information to the above visualized indicators, i.e. a short definition of this indicator and a description of the politically determined target values as well as explaining the political intention behind selecting this indicator.

Definition

Material deprivation describes the lack of specific consumer goods and the involuntary foregoing of discretionary consumption for financial reasons. The two indicators represent the proportion of people out of the total population who are deemed to suffer either material deprivation (1.1.a) or severe material deprivation (1.1.b). The designation of (severe) material deprivation applies to all people whose household meets at least three (severely materially deprived: at least four) of nine defined criteria reflecting the financial restrictions of the household.
Target and intention

The indicator “material deprivation” also is part of the extensive reporting on poverty and wealth conducted by the Federal Government. By identifying individual deficiencies, it aims to act as a substitute for illustrating living conditions threatened by poverty. The target is to combat material deprivation, therefore both, the percentage of persons who are materially as well as severely materially deprived, should stay below the level within the European Union.
Data status

The data published in the indicator report 2022 is as of 31 October 2022. The data shown on this platform is updated regularly, so that more current data may be available online than published in the indicator report 2022.

Text from the Indicator Report 2022 

The data is drawn from the Europe-wide harmonised annual Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) which is incorporated into the microcensus with extensive methodological changes from the 2020 survey year onward due to increasing requirements on data with respect to actuality and provision of more detailed regional results. As a consequence, the data since survey year 2020 are not comparable with prior survey years.

The selected survey variables are expenditures based on a lifestyle that is considered appropriate, desirable or even necessary in Europe. These nine criteria used to characterise material deprivation are standardised across all countries in which EU-SILC is conducted, thereby allowing Europe-wide comparisons. Survey results are derived from self-assessment of households. According to the definition of EU-SILC, households are characterized to suffer from (severe) material deprivation, if they fulfil at least three (severe material deprivation: at least four) of the following nine criteria:

1. Financial difficulties to pay for rent, mortgages, or utility bills on time.

2. Financial difficulties to ensure adequate heating in the residence.

3. Financial difficulties to meet unplanned expenditures of a specific amount from one’s own financial resources.

4. Financial difficulties to eat meat, fish or an equivalent vegetarian meal every second day.

5. Financial difficulties to spend one week’s holidays per year outside the actual residence.

6. Lack of a car in the household due to financial reasons.

7. Lack of a washing machine in the household due to financial reasons.

8. Lack of a colour TV in the household due to financial reasons.

9. Lack of a telephone in the household due to financial reasons.

Until 2019, the shares of the population experiencing both material deprivation and severe material deprivation declined over time for Germany as in the European Union (EU) as a whole. At all times, the values for Germany were always significantly lower than those for the EU.

In 2020 13.4 % of the population in Germany were affected by material deprivation. This value is slightly higher than the value for the EU population that is 13.3 %, which was calculated by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) excluding the United Kingdom (Brexit) for the first time in 2020. For this reason, and due to the above-mentioned methodological changes to the survey design, the value is only comparable with the previous year”s figures to a limited extent. Even after the UK”s EU exit and methodological adjustments to the survey, the rate of people experiencing severe material deprivation in Germany in 2020 remained below the EU figure of 5.9 % at 5.6 %. The German government”s target for severe material deprivation was thus just achieved.

The indicator on “severe material deprivation” has been redefined and expanded in the EU as part of the Europe 2030 targets, in that additional criteria on social deprivation are now also taken into account. At the European level, therefore, only the indicators “rate of (severe) material and social deprivation” will be provided in the future. A corresponding adjustment of the goals and indicators of the German Sustainability Strategy will therefore be necessary.

The synoptic table provides information about the evaluation of the indicator in previous years. It shows if the weather symbol assigned to an indicator was rather stable or volatile in the past years. (Evaluation of the Indicator Report 2022 )

Indicator

1.1.a Material deprivation
Target

Keep the proportion of persons who are materially deprived considerably below the EU-27-level by 2030
Year

2017

2018

2019

2020
Evaluation <p>Leicht bewölkt</p> <p>Leicht bewölkt</p> <p>Leicht bewölkt</p>
Indicator

1.1.b Severe material deprivation
Target

Keep the proportion of persons who are severely materially deprived considerably below the EU-27-level by 2030
Year

2017

2018

2019

2020
Evaluation <p>Leicht bewölkt</p> <p>Leicht bewölkt</p> <p>Leicht bewölkt</p>