site.btaSome 300,000 Able-bodied Bulgarians Do Not Study, Work, Make Insurance Contributions or Look for Jobs - Survey

Sofia, November 6 (BTA) - Some 300,000 able-bodied Bulgarians are demotivated. They do not study, work, make insurance contributions and have not been registered at labour exchanges, a focused survey of the Trend Research Centre shows. The survey was commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and was presented by social scientist Evelina Slavkova at the BTA National Press Club on Monday.

The survey was conducted between September 10 and 28 and is a representative one for the target group featuring 1,123 respondents.

Over 80 per cent of the demotivated Bulgarians have been unemployed for over a year, including 12 per cent who have never worked. Nearly 47 per cent of them are not looking for jobs, claiming there are not jobs for them. Some 13 per cent say the reason for that is that relatives provide for them. Half of the unemployed university graduates think they cannot finds jobs according to their qualification.

The majority of the interviewees (47 per cent) said they would begin to work for a salary ranging between 500 and 1,000 leva. University graduates and Sofia residents cite figures between 1,001 and 1,500 leva.

In terms of age-brackets, the largest share is that of young people between 18 and 29, although it should be noted that a large portion of them are still in the process of finding their career, Slavkova said. The share of demotivated Bulgarians with secondary education is the largest (53 per cent), followed by people with primary education (26 per cent), elementary (9 per cent) and those who have not graduated (3 per cent). The survey also showed that slightly over 50 per cent of demotivated Bulgarians are married.

Former deputy prime minister and social minister Ivaylo Kalfin, now a member of the Economic and International Relations Institute, said that demotivated Bulgarians amount to about 10 per cent of the workforce and can become a considerable resource.