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Data shows that relative poverty is decreasing, but that half a million people still do not have basic needs
The poverty rate is steadily declining, last year 23.2 percent of Serbian citizens were at risk of poverty, which is 1.1 percent less than the previous year.
Photo: EPA-EFE / KOCA SULEJMANOVICAnyone living on less than 19,381 dinars a month or in the case of a family of four on less than 40,700 dinars runs the risk of becoming poor. Despite this data from the Office of Statistics of the Republic, which shows that poverty is decreasing, two-thirds of respondents have a subjective feeling that it is difficult or difficult to make ends meet, and only 10 percent of those who live easily on the income they have.
The dilemma as to whether these statistics correspond to the real situation in Serbia exists among experts, some of them support such statistics because they are in line with the European methodology where they are based on income data to calculate poverty, while some believe that the Right the situation, at least as far as Serbia is concerned, can be better obtained on the basis of consumption data.
“The SBS data speak of relative poverty, which is specific because it is calculated on the basis of the income of the majority of the population. In theory, we could all get poorer, and the number of relatively poor could be reduced because the difference in the income of the population also decreased, “the director of the Center for Social Policy, Zarko Shunderic, told Danas.
He says that the statistics are just like that, that is, the methodology used by the SBS is the same as that used by Eurostat.
“The SILC survey used in the EU covers living conditions, it is based on income, but then the question arises how, for example, what people in their households treat for their own needs is treated. There is no such thing at all. For a country like Serbia, it would be much safer to calculate poverty if you look at the consumer survey, “Shunderic said.
That, he says, would give a much more realistic picture of poverty.
“Based on income, we get data on relative poverty, and what is real is absolute poverty, that is, seven percent of Serbian citizens, or about half a million people,” Shunderic said, noting that the image of absolute poverty includes consumption, the gray economy, and remittances from abroad.
To make a clear distinction, it must be said that absolute poverty implies the inability of a person to meet basic needs and of those with incomes below the poverty line. On the other hand, relative poverty is the inability to achieve a standard of living appropriate to the society in which the individual lives.
The president of UGS Nezavisnost, Zoran Stojiljković, points out that a large number of people in Serbia are below the limit of absolute poverty, to receive less than 12,000 dinars.
“Serbia is in an area of unstable growth, we have a quarter of the poor and two thirds of those who live long and cannot make ends meet. That tells us that we are a poor society and that many who live with less 40,000 and more than that cannot meet their basic needs and live normally, “says Stojiljković.
He points out that a decent life today requires much more than the minimum wage and a half.
The Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions warns that today, on World Poverty Day, the gap between rich and poor is widening, regardless of the size, industrial development or economic strength of a particular country or continent.
“The rate of risk of poverty or social exclusion in Serbia is 31.7 percent, which means that more than 2.2 million of our fellow citizens are poor. It is more difficult for families with three or more children, 51 9 percent live in poverty and 41.6 percent of single parents are poor, ”says the ASNS.
When to all this, as they say in this union, the 350,000 workers whose families live with the minimum are added, as well as two thirds or 1.6 million workers who receive less than the average salary, a realistic picture of life in Serbia
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