Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

5.2. Possession of durable goods
The data on durable goods in the household
confirm an oven 5 and refrigerator, as essential
appliances. These are equally present in all
households regardless of them being below or above
the poverty line. Significant distinctions between
the households above and below the poverty line
can be observed with regard to possession of
devices such air conditioning, dishwasher,
microwave oven, satellite dish, video recorder,
video camera and personal computer.
It is interesting to note that households in rural
areas use refrigerators (86.4 percent) and freezers
(85.2 percent) more than urban households.
However, urban households use combined
refrigerators and freezers two and a half times more
since they are forced to use their space in a more
rational manner.
There are no significant differences in the
average age of durable goods according to the type
of settlement or region. However, generally
speaking, the household appliances are rather old.
For example, the average age of refrigerators and
freezers is around 17 years, ovens around 15 years,
vacuum cleaner and iron 10 years and television
around 9 years. Apart from these appliances that are
common to every household, there are more recent
appliances in household possession: air
conditioners, DVD players and personal computers
that have an average age of between 3 and 4 years.
Concerning cars (owned by every other household
in urban settlements and every other household
above poverty line) it can be said that their average
age is rather high (around 15 years).
Belgrade households are among the best
equipped in the country regarding durable goods,
especially personal computers (52.5 percent of these
households own a personal computer). The highest
number of households buying new appliances (less
than one year old) is in Belgrade. Also households
in the richest consumption quintile have more new
goods. However, except for the most essential
appliances (oven, refrigerator and freezer, washing
machine and vacuum cleaner) most appliances are
unaffordable to the poor. For example, not a single
poor household owns a dishwasher; only 0.8 percent
of the households own a microwave oven; 0.5
percent of the households own a video camera. The
situation is better with in relation to cars where 13.6
percent of poor households own a car but it is still
far from the situation of non-poor households (51.2
percent own a car). Personal computers are found
in non-poor households more than seven times more
often than in poor households but the difference
regarding the possession of a TV is not so
prominent (85.5 percent of poor households
compared to 97.6 percent of the non-poor). Such a
high percentage of the poor households with
television sets indicates that not only is it easier to
obtain, unlike some more expensive appliances, but
this appliance is literally “a window to the world”
for the poor and it is a cost-free opportunity to learn
about the cultural, sports and other events in the
country and in the world.
It is these drastic differences regarding the
possession of durable goods between poor and nonpoor
households that outline the discriminatory
sharpness of the absolute poverty line. Within that
context, it should be noted that poor households do
not own durable goods that are less than one year
old (dishwasher, combined refrigerator, video
recorder, video camera, car or van). However, some
of these households allocated did by washing
machines (2.7 percent), vacuum cleaners (2.7
percent), irons (3.0 percent), TV sets (4.7 percent)
and DVD players (2.5 percent).
5.3. Types of heating used
More than half (54.2 percent) of households in
Serbia use solid fuels i.e. wood and coal as the main
source of heating (Table 2). Every fifth household is
supplied by central heating (21.8 percent); 8.6
percent of the households use electricity, 7.1 percent
gas, while the share of households using liquid fuels
is around 1 percent. A combination of different
types of heating is used by 7.2 percent of the
households which is more or less the same level as
in 2003.
Housing conditions and possesion of durable goods
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