Working full time and still living at risk of poverty is an increasingly common reality in this country. The new Social Panorama 2025 report, from the Chamber of Salaried Workers (Chambre des Salariés, CSL), paints a worrying portrait in Luxembourg: earning the minimum wage is no longer enough to guarantee a dignified life in the country.
The document, released this week and analyzed by the Luxembourg portal Contacto, shows that a couple with two children and a monthly income of 5,282 euros, including family support, lives below the poverty threshold, set at 5,842 euros. Even adding State aid, the amount is not enough to cover all the essential expenses of a household.
Working no longer protects you from poverty
“It seems increasingly clear that, in Luxembourg, work is far from protecting against poverty”, warns Nora Back, president of the CSL, in the report. According to the institution’s data, 14% of salaried workers are at risk of precariousness, the highest rate in the entire euro zone.
The secretary general of the Chamber, David Angel, reinforces the appeal: “A minimum wage should allow living above the poverty line, without the need for social support”. For the organization, the current system is failing precisely where it should protect — in the income of those who work.
The math that doesn’t add up
The report dismantles the myth that “those who work are not poor”. A couple with two children aged 12 and 15, with both adults earning the net minimum wage, receives 5,282 euros per month, including family allowances. However, this value is more than 500 euros lower than the poverty threshold.
Even the so-called “reference budget”, the minimum amount needed to cover basic expenses, is very close, at 4,985 euros. In other words, these families constantly live on a knife’s edge, with no room for unforeseen events.
Single-parent families at greatest risk
The situation is worse in single-parent families. An adult with an 18-month-old child, earning the minimum wage and receiving state support, has a monthly income of 2,880 euros. The problem is that the poverty threshold for this household is 3,302 euros, and the reference budget rises to 3,143.
The difference, although it may seem small, translates into daily sacrifices: overdue bills, cuts in food and the impossibility of saving. CSL considers that these families are “the most vulnerable and exposed to social exclusion”.
Living alone is also synonymous with precariousness
A single adult earning the net minimum wage, currently 2,225 euros per month, also lives below the poverty threshold, set at 2,540 euros. Even so, their income is lower than the reference budget (2,482 euros), which shows that not even those who live alone escape the pressure of costs.
The difference of just a few hundred euros makes all the difference in a country where housing rents and prices for essential goods are among the highest in Europe.
The few who escape the threshold
According to the report cited by , only couples without children or with a six-month-old baby can live slightly above the poverty line. A couple without children earns 4,457 euros, which is higher than the threshold of 3,810 euros and the reference budget (3,121 euros).
Even in these cases, however, the balance is fragile: an increase in income or an unexpected medical expense is enough to fall back into precariousness.
A question of dignity
The Chamber of Salaried Workers insists that the minimum wage must be sufficient to guarantee a dignified and independent life, without depending on public support. “In a country as prosperous as Luxembourg, income from work should be enough to lift families out of poverty”, argues David Angel.
For many, this phrase sums up the contradiction of the Grand Duchy: a powerful economy, but with a growing number of poor workers.
The dilemma of solidarity
The report also raises a sensitive political question: should the State compensate for salary gaps through permanent social support? For CSL, the answer is no. Solidarity must exist, but not to fill structural gaps in the labor market. While the debate continues, thousands of families remain trapped between employment and poverty, they work, but do not reach the end of the month safely.
In Luxembourg, the challenge is no longer finding work. The problem now is how much this work is really worth.
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