Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

INTRODUCTION
This study aims to help address the issue of the appropriate use of statistical data in policy
development in Serbia. Faced with enterprise restructuring, high unemployment and high
levels of social exclusion, as well as the consequences of internal population
displacement, the Government of Serbia (GoS) has recognized and acknowledged the
need for fundamental reforms in social policy area and the collection of adequate data of
social statistics. Reliable household data are scarce in Serbia, with the result that social
policy making is put on a precarious basis. The exceptional circumstances of Serbia have
left a legacy of immense complexity, in which social groups have become fractured and
excluded. A statistically reliable basis for policy making, particularly in the social sphere,
is a priority.
Data on poverty and living standards are seen as a part of information system to support
decision making by the GoS and its line Ministries. The public is also keenly interested in
poverty data. Therefore poverty data are also crucially important for strategic planning
bodies within GoS, and for donors in assessing their strategies in support of the Poverty
Reduction Strategy (PRS).
Poverty data will become part of EU accession agenda: social inclusion indicators (of
which poverty is part) are facilitating coordination of social inclusion policies, periodic
reporting and monitoring of progress in EU member states. EU's multidimensional
characterization of poverty (including outcome indicators for health, education, labour
market and access to safety nets) is already part of the PRS in Serbia, and that focus has to
be maintained to meet these future demands.
At the time when the PRS was being prepared (2001-2002) the World Bank, together with
other donors, facilitated collection of two Living Standards Measurement Studies (LSMS).
Analysis of the LSMS data by the GoS and the World Bank poverty assessment team
constituted the benchmark for PRS objectives. Based on the continued need for poverty
data, DFID and the World Bank agreed to fund a further LSMS with the aim of comparing
the results against the first two LSMS’s and measure changes in poverty level, creating a
time series of data.
Introduction
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