Despite being one of the largest economies in the world and despite fair wages being part of the European Pillar of Social Rights, in 2021, almost 22% of EU citizens were recorded as being at risk of poverty or social exclusion, as well as enduring poor education, working conditions, housing and health.
This percentage is likely to have grown in the aftermath of COVID-19 and the ongoing economic disruption of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
So what’s the solution?
The mission is to ensure that all Europeans rise together by:
Increasing the minimum wage to become a living wage, approximately 60% of the gross median wage in any given country.
Building more living units — especially flats — and promoting socially motivated property developments, which would also stimulate the economy.
Capping rent rises.
Introducing an EU-wide uniform tax on wealth and inheritance to rebalance entrenched inequalities and to allow EU member states the revenues necessary to meet the many challenges they face.
How would this mission benefit Europeans?
A Social Europe would improve all Europeans’ livelihoods and help restore trust in politics, which is widely understood to be run on behalf of wealthy vested interests at the expense of society as a whole.
This would help foster broader democratic engagement, which would in turn help to make the EU a stable and attractive environment in which to live and to do business.
