The Chamber of Commerce has created a bulletin about poverty and presented its results at a conference on Monday.
The Chamber approaching the subject of poverty with the argument that Luxembourgish companies need more and more people to keep the country's economy going well.
But what is poverty, and how do you risk becoming poor? Christel Chatelain from the Chamber of Commerce does not have a definitive answer. Instead she explained that we should avoid creating a stereotypical portrait of a poor person. Nevertheless, she added that single parent households, and those who spend the majority of their income on housing, tend to be at higher risk.
As a result of this, the Chamber of Commerce recommended to that government promote inclusive education, to reduce housing prices by providing a better offer, and to keep unemployment low. Work is the best antidote to poverty. Christel Chatelain also explained that the Chamber of Commerce is not opposed to universal measures, but that, when monetary resources are limited, choices need to be made on who gets help. They suggested that the people with the lowest incomes should be the priority.
The Chamber of Commerce was clear about its message: a salary increase would damage the competitiveness of businesses. Another claim was that Luxembourg's social system was not targeted enough. This statement provoked criticism from Robert Urbé, the author of the Sozialalmanach (social almanac) published by Caritas: Even though he perceived the bulletin as generally useful, he complained about the repetition of wrong ideas that had been spread for many years. One example being that social transfers were not targeted enough, or that people would not want to work if the monetary benefit was insignificant.
Another such rumour, according to Robert Urbé, is that the Taux de risque de pauvreté used to measure relative poverty doesn't make any sense. He added that all of these claims were fundamentally wrong and that we need to face the truth.
What is definitely true is that poverty in Luxembourg comes in many shapes and forms, and that there is no miracle solution to fix it.
Video in Luxembourgish
