securing new accommodations, and experience a higher rate of evictions compared to the general population, highlighting the housing-related challenges. Moreover, Roma households are often affected by spatial marginalization: Roma communities frequently live in areas deprived of social services and far from job opportunities.<sup>10</sup>

# **Against this background, the aim of this working paper is threefold.**

**First, it constructs a measure of absolute multidimensional poverty for the EU to analyze recent temporal trends at regional, subregional, and country levels.** We construct a measure of anchored AROPE for the 27 EU countries (except Germany) to monitor changes over time, using data from the 2021 and 2022 EU-SILC cross-sectional surveys,<sup>11</sup> and following the at-riskof-poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) framework. The AROP indicator is a measure of income inequality, as the poverty threshold, set at 60% of the national equalized median disposable income (in national currency), can vary from year to year based on changes in the overall income level and its distribution. Therefore, to properly analyze changes in absolute multidimensional poverty over time, a measure of anchored AROP capturing changes in monetary living standards should be used as part of AROPE.

**Second, it quantifies the extent and composition of multidimensional poverty across four EU countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Poland)**<sup>**12**</sup> **; it also identifies factors associated with higher risks of poverty or social exclusion and vulnerable groups and extends the AROPE framework to incorporate additional dimensions of deprivations.** The multidimensional approach extends beyond a narrow focus on income to encompass broader dimensions of household and individual deprivation. This analysis aims to provide an updated picture of multidimensional poverty in four EU countries. The analysis is cross-sectional in nature and relies on the more recent 2022 EU-SILC cross-sectional wave available for these countries. The analysis includes estimates of the incidence of multidimensional poverty and the degree of overlapping deprivations, delves into the underlying factors contributing to higher risks of multidimensional poverty, and identifies at-risk population groups to inform targeted policy interventions tailored to different European contexts. Finally, it extends the AROPE measure to include key additional dimensions (access to education and health) and a broader measure of social and material deprivations, which includes some aspects of living conditions (i.e., overcrowding).

**Finally, it conducts a further analysis of multidimensional poverty among the Roma population in Bulgaria, the only country for which disaggregated data by ethnicity is available; this also includes longitudinal analysis to assess the extent of chronic income poverty and chronic**

> 10 Source: 2021 FRA Survey. Roma in 10 European Countries Report.

> 11 Longer temporal trends are not possible due to the methodological changes in the AROPE indicator, as explained in more detail in Section II.

> 12 We focus on the latest countries to join the European Union: Croatia, which became a member on July 1, 2013, and Bulgaria and Romania, which both joined on January 1, 2007. Poland joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, as part of a significant enlargement that included nine other countries. Despite sharing some common characteristics, these countries have made uneven progress in social and economic dimensions. Bulgaria and Romania still face significantly high rates of poverty, social exclusion, and inequality, whereas Croatia and Poland have made substantial improvements.

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