Almost 80 million Europeans live at risk of poverty, which means they face insecurity, and go without what most people often take for granted.
Living in poverty may result in a variety of problems, from not having enough money to spend on food and clothes to suffering poor housing conditions and even homelessness. Poverty also means having to cope with limited lifestyle choices that may lead to social exclusion.
Inspired by its founding principle of solidarity, the European Union has joined forces with its Member States to make 2010 the European Year For Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. The key objectives are to raise public awareness about these issues and renew the political commitment of the EU and its Member States to combat poverty and social exclusion.
The guiding principle of the 2010 Year is to give voice to the concerns of people who have to live with poverty and social exclusion, and to inspire every European citizen and other stakeholders to engage with these important issues.
This Year also aims to challenge stereotypes and collective perceptions of poverty. By harnessing the EU’s principles of solidarity and partnership, 2010 represents a clarion call to tackle the causes of poverty head-on in a bid to ensure everyone can play a full and active role in society.

The way poverty affects people is multi-faceted and sits hand-in-glove with social exclusion. In addition to well-known problems such as poor housing, or homelessness, people who are poor are also likely to endure:

• Poor health and reduced access to healthcare

• Reduced access to education, training and leisure activities

• Financial exclusion and over-indebtedness

• Limited access to modern technology, such as the Internet

To tackle these and other related issues, the EU provides a framework through which Member States develop their own priorities and strategies. This framework takes into account the multi-dimensional nature of poverty while focusing particular attention on the following:

• Eliminating child poverty and poverty within families

• Facilitating access to the labour markets, education and training

• Overcoming discrimination and tackling the gender aspects and age aspects of poverty

• Combating financial exclusion and over-indebtedness

• Combating poor housing and housing exclusion

• Promoting the social inclusion of vulnerable groups