About 1 million, or one in eight, Austrians are forced to live below or close to the poverty line, a survey by a state statistics institute released on Thursday said, according to dpa. According to Statistik Austria, 12 to 13 per cent of the population were qualified "at risk" of being affected by poverty in Austria, a country ranked among the most prosperous in Europe with an average gross domestic product (GDP) of more than 31,000 euros (46,000 dollars) per capita. About 44 per cent of those judged to be at risk lived below the poverty line permanently, a large majority of them women of retirement age or older. For many others, life on or below the poverty line was for a shorter term, triggered by changes in the family situation, education or loss of employment. The statisticians qualified any person with a net income of 900 euros or less per month as being at risk of sliding into poverty.
