Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

2. The total number of the poor halved in from
2002-2007. The share of the poor in the overall
population dropped from 14 percent in 2002 to
6.6 percent in 2007, thus reducing the number of
the poor by more than 500 000. The greatest
benefit from economic growth was enjoyed by
the poorest layers of population, since the
average consumption growth among the most
vulnerable categories was higher than the
consumption growth of remaining population.
This could be primarily accounted for by a real
increase in salaries, pensions and other social
transfers in the 2002-2007 period, which make
up the largest part of income among the poorest.
Middle-income population groups have
benefited the least.
3. Even though poverty was significantly re-duced,
the poverty profile remained almost un-changed
compared to 2002. The most affected categories
still remain the population from rural areas of
South East Serbia, the uneducated and the
unemployed, elderly people (65 and over), as
well as households with two and more small
children (aged 0-6). A new category in 2007 that
was more challenged than the population
average was children up to 14, although they had
an average (children 6-14) or below average (0-
5) poverty index five years ago.
4. Analysis of the poverty profile in Serbia shows
relatively large regional discrepancies in poverty
rates, as well as strong links between poverty
and unemployment and education. Despite a
considerable economic growth, there are still
some isolated areas which had a small benefit
from economic growth with a high concentration
of the poor, such as the rural areas in South East
Serbia. Regional discrepancies between urban
and rural areas within the same region remained
high, as well as regional dis-crepancies between
the poorest (rural areas of South East Serbia) and
the wealthiest region in Serbia (urban areas of
Belgrade). The results of multivariable poverty
analysis for 2007 indicate lower regional
differences than the ones recorded according to
the poverty profile. It proves that poor regions
are mostly populated by people of lower
educational profile, the households with a large
number of supported members and with other
features that make them particularly prone to
poverty. Therefore, the prospects of the
population from poorer regions, who decide to
migrate to more prosperous regions in Serbia,
could be highly uncertain and unclear. As a
result of that, it is especially important for the
National Poverty Reduction Strategy to put an
emphasis on the reduction of regional disparities
within a sustainable growth targeting the poor.
5. Labour market status affects poverty. The
highest poverty risk was experienced by inactive
households, as well as households with no employed
members. However, the largest part of
the poor in Serbia lives in the households where
at least one member is employed, given that such
households are the most numerous ones.
6. Poverty is strongly correlated with education.
The highly educated population was not exposed
to poverty risk (close-to-zero poverty index), and
they accounted for a mere 1.7 percent of the
poor. This indicates that education pays off since
the labour market rewards education with a
considerable wage advantage for its highly
educated workers compared to others.
26 Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007