The statutory subsistence level for social benefits is far below the actual financial needs for a minimally decent life with basic social and cultural participation, a new calculation of ASB Schuldnerberatungen GmbH’s reference budgets shows. While the updated monthly “standard need” for a single person is €1,787, the legally defined subsistence level remains €1,484—a €300 shortfall.

Reference budgets “reflect current events, like steep inflation-driven price hikes, accurately and promptly,” ASB said Monday. “They should serve alongside the at-risk-of-poverty threshold as an official poverty measure,” proposed debt counsellor Marlene Ecker. These budgets are Austria’s only survey calculating expenses required for a simple but adequate life. Housing is especially costly.

Ecker also urged raising the subsistence level. “Aligning it with reference budgets could prevent over-indebted individuals and families from sliding into poverty,” she said.

Housing and Family Costs

For a one-person household, three quarters of the €1,787 average monthly costs go to housing, food, and mobility. Families face even higher burdens: fixed costs plus school and after-school care fees and essential social participation (e.g., swimming-pool visits, birthday gifts) can cause social isolation when unaffordable.

The gap widens with family size. The poverty-risk threshold is €1,661 for singles. A couple with one child averages €3,672 in monthly expenses versus a €2,990 threshold; a couple with three children needs €5,437 against a €4,319 threshold—a €1,118 difference. Yet Austria still uses the 60 %-of-median-income threshold to define “at risk,” ASB criticises.