Austria

AUSTRIA IS A RELATIVELY affluent country with a 2004 population of 8.1 million. As the former seat of the Holy Roman Empire (described by the 18th-century French writer Voltaire as “neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire”), Austria historically has had less poverty than some of its neighbors in south-central Europe. These neighbors include Germany, Italy, and Hungary; the latter, until World War I, was part of Austria. However, even Austria has been and continues to be troubled by at least some problems of poverty and inequality.

Many of Austria's historical poverty problems resulted from disputes between the nobility and the peasant class about unpaid labor or about land. In 1830, 71 percent of the Austrian population lived on farms. Most of those people were peasants who stood in semi-feudal (seigneurial) relationships with the nobles who owned the land on which they worked. Landowners frequently insisted that peasants work without pay for at least part of their time, a demand that exacerbated the inequalities of wealth that already existed.

Another aggravating factor was similar to the enclosure movement in England. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, some arable land in Austria was unclaimed by anyone. Peasants could farm that land or use it as pasture to generate extra income. Between 1790 and 1848, however, the Austrian government let nobles claim a substantial amount of the common land, thereby capturing its income. This worsened both poverty and inequality, according to R. Okey.

At the turn of the 21st century, Austria was smaller, less powerful, and less grand than its pre-World War I incarnation as the Holy Roman Empire, but it also suffered less poverty and inequality. With a 2003 per capita income of $26,720, it is better off than Ireland, Belgium, Germany, and France, although it trailed Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. With a Gini coefficient (measuring inequality) of 0.31, it is about in the middle of European Union countries in terms of income inequality. Its 2003 infant mortality rate was 4.5 deaths per 1,000 births, compared to 4.2 in Germany, 4.4 in France, 5.3 in the United Kingdom, and 6.9 in the United States. One hundred percent of the population have access to clean water and complete at least primary education.

In spite of this sunny picture, Austria is not without its problems. Three percent of Austria's population fall into the category of the “long-term poor,” while (depending on the year) 11 to 13 percent fall below the poverty line, compared with 16 percent in Germany and France and 19 percent in the United Kingdom. Typical for a European Union country, Austria defines poverty not merely in terms of income but also in terms of social exclusion. Adequate income should enable Austrians “to play the roles, participate in the relationships, and follow the customary behavior which is expected of them by virtue of their membership in society,” according to Michael F. Förster et al.

Austria's efforts to combat poverty focus mainly on relief (“social transfer”) payments to poor families and pensioners. Overall, 23 percent of poor households' income came from pensions, 16 percent from family benefits, and eight percent from unemployment compensation. Excluding pensioners, poor families received 40 percent of their income from relief payments. However, some influential Austrians (such as the Roman Catholic Bishop Maximilian Aichern) have also called for lower taxes on wages and higher taxes on capital and wealth as a way to alleviate poverty and inequality in the country.

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