Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

Table 9.10. Inactive population by age and reason for inactivity, LSMS 2007 (percent)
Age category
Total 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55- 64 65+
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Education / training 21.4 82.7 33.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Retirement 42.1 0.3 0.9 7.8 30.8 67.0 68.4
Personal and family reasons (housewife) 10.1 4.4 28.0 34.9 23.4 10.0 5.0
Not seeking employment through any method 1.4 1.3 5.5 5.7 3.0 1.2 0.0
Illness, inability to work or old age 16 1.4 5.8 22.1 22.8 14.6 25.2
Discouraged persons 2.7 1.5 7.0 11.7 9.7 2.5 0.2
Other reasons 6.3 8.5 19.6 17.8 10.3 4.6 1.2
9.13. The inactive population
The share of inactive people in the total adult
population has increased from 42.2 percent in 2002,
to 45.9 percent in 2007. At 42.1 percent, pensioners
make up the greatest proportion of the inactive
population in 2007, followed by people attending
some form of education (21.4 percent) housewives
and persons who are inactive due to family reasons
(10.1 percent) people who are ill, unable to work or
elderly (16.0 percent of the inactive population) and
other inactive categories amount to 10.3 percent.
If viewed from the aspect of poverty, 53
percent of poor adults (aged 15+) fall within the
inactive contingent. The most vulnerable within the
inactive population are elderly people, as well as
those who are ill or unable to work. They make up
16 percent of the total inactive population, and 30.9
percent of the total number of poor people within
the inactive group.
The inactive contingent is extremely diverse
and is made up of different age groups, with the
reason for inactivity mostly dependent on age.
Among inactive youth (aged 15 to 24) the most
frequent reason for inactivity is education (82.7
percent). Education is also the most common reason
for inactivity within the 25-34 age group, albeit to a
much lesser extent (33.1 percent), while a
significant percentage of persons from this age
category (28 percent) are inactive because of
personal and family-related reasons. Discouraged
unemployed people also make up a significant
proportion of this age category (7 percent).
The most common reason for inactivity among
middle aged inactive persons (35 to 44) is due to
personal and family issues (in 34.9 percent of the
cases), followed by illness or inability to work
Employment status
(20.6%), while discouragement and lack of faith in
the possibility of finding employment is a reason for
the inactivity of 11.7 percent of people within this
age group. Persons aged 45 and above increasingly
mention retirement, illness, inability to work or old
age as reasons for inactivity, while for 93.6 percent
of cases among persons aged 65 and above these
factors constitute the main reasons for inactivity.
Discouraged people are a specific group
among inactive persons, i.e. people without a job
but are not job-seeking because they have lost faith
in their ability to find one. Discouraged persons are
most frequent among the inactive group aged from
35 to 44.
The greatest percentage of discouraged persons
(64.5 percent) has been employed previously, while
35.5 percent of this group has never worked.
Discouraged people are potentially active
persons, who could, under certain circumstances and
following specific changes of behaviour in the labour
market, move from the inactive to the active
category.
9.14. Earnings and pensions
Labour-related income in the LSMS includes
income based on current job and income from
pensions. The total income based on current job
includes net income (salaries) from main and
additional jobs and other income received at work
such as premiums, rewards, one-off assistance,
transport allowance, daily living allowances, etc.
According to the data (referring to income
from the previous month) the largest percent (36.6
percent) of the adult population generate income
from their current job and the majority of this figure
(35.3 percent) earns this income from their main
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