site.btaNearly 700,000 Bulgarians Live on Less than 100 Leva a Month - Institute of Market Economics

Nearly 700,000 Bulgarians Live on Less than 100 Leva a Month - Institute of Market Economics

Sofia, March 17 (BTA) - In 2013, 21 per cent of Bulgarians were
at risk of poverty, and one in ten were at risk of deep poverty,
Petar Ganev, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Market
Economics (IME), said on Tuesday. The main causes of
impoverishment are poor education and unemployment; for minority
groups life in the ghetto is yet another cause, said Ganev,
quoting an IME analysis on "Poverty and Risk Groups".

Families of two poorly educated adults with at least three
children, who live in high-unemployment regions, are most at
risk of poverty.

The lowest poverty line, known as deep poverty, is
characteristic of people whose income is 40 per cent of the
median income per household member. In 2013, the National
Statistical Institute (NSI) put the median income at nearly
3,000 leva a year (250 leva a month), meaning that nearly
700,000 Bulgarians lived on less than 100 leva a month. There
were also 1.5 million Bulgarians whom the IME terms "poor", i.e.
living on 60 per cent of the median income (150 leva a month).
The unemployed and inactive people are among the highest-risk
groups, which depend on the quality of education and labour
market processes.

The proportion of people living in deep poverty increased
gradually from about 8.5 per cent in 2008-2009 to about 10 per
cent in 2012-2013. Relative poverty varied widely among the
different groups by economic activity, according to IME. Poverty
among people with jobs was rather lower - a mere 7 or 8 per
cent of them were at risk of poverty. This group consisted of 3
million people, meaning that about 210,000 employed people lived
below the poverty line. The working poor, who mostly work short
hours and for minimum wages, cannot be described as the top
at-risk group. Employment guarantees an income which makes it
little likely that the working poor will fall into deep poverty,
the analysis says. If the lowest poverty line of 100 leva a
month (40 per cent of the median income) is applied, a mere 2.2
per cent of people with jobs (about 65,000 people) were at risk
of poverty.

The group of unemployed people was most at risk of poverty, with
one in two unemployed being at risk. After a slight three-year
drop, in 2013 less than 48 per cent of the unemployed (about
190,000 people) were at risk of poverty. Overall, the risk of
poverty was nearly seven times higher among people out of work
than among employed people.

The poverty risk among the unemployed is between 25 and 30 per
cent, about 360,000 people calculated on the basis of NSI labour
force data. The IME analysis found that about 440,000
pensioners lived on less than 150 leva a month, and 100,000
lived on less than 100 leva a month. Also, 335,000 children aged
under 18 lived on less than 150 leva a month, and 205,000
children lived on less than 100 leva a month.