Income poverty and material and social deprivation are two different approaches to poverty. The former, which is based on household income, is measured in a relative manner: the poverty line depends on the country’s level of wealth. The latter is based on standards of living and establishes a single threshold for all countries. The people identified by these two approaches to poverty are different, which has an impact on comparisons between European Union (EU) countries.

In 2016, 12.7% of the French population and 15.7% of the EU population find themselves in a situation of material and social deprivation. In turn, income poverty affects 13.6% of the French population and 17.3% of the European population. France has one of the lowest income poverty rates in the EU and an average material and social deprivation rate. There is a correlation between the two rates; however, certain countries have similar poverty rates according to one definition and very different rates according to the other definition. Within a single country, the poor populations defined by these two indicators only overlap partially: in France, less than 6% of the population is affected by the two forms of poverty. Nevertheless, in most EU countries, the populations exposed to either of these forms of poverty are relatively similar from the point of view of activity status, profession and family configuration. However, independent workers, farmers and young people are affected by income poverty much more than by material and social deprivation.

On the whole, the wealthier countries have lower material and social deprivation rates than the rest of the EU, although their income poverty rates remain close to the average. In addition, people in situations of material and social deprivation in those countries have a much higher standard of living, but they have a level of life satisfaction around the same as their counterparts in poorer countries.