In Lithuania, 12% of residents (more than 330 thousand) can not feed themselves, 23% of the population (nearly 700 thousand) do not have enough money to pay for housing, heating and utilities. These are the results of the survey published by ELTA agency on March 23 at the request of the Poverty Reduction Network of Public Enterprises.
Aiste Adomavičienė, the Head of the said network, reports that the vulnerable population groups are the hardest hit. The number of those in urgent need for money to buy food in the segment of those earning up to EUR 500 per month has grown from 17.1% in 2022 to 23.5% this year. The number of those in urgent need has grown from 4% to 7% among those earning between 501 and 700 euros, the growth is also observed among people earning over 701 euros. They also lack the money to buy the food they are used to.
When speaking of the housing maintenance, in the first segment 39.3% of the population are not able to live without debts. The number of those who receive state compensation for central heating has doubled in Lithuania. From the usual 6% to 13.2% – almost 365 thousand people.
The poor are forced to choose the smaller of two evils – either to pay the monthly communal bill with heating at the expense of their stomach, or to increase debts, but to eat relatively well, summarized Aistė Adomavičienė, director of the Network of Public Enterprises for Poverty Reduction.
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