Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007

Graph 6.2. Targeting of benefits by type of
settlement
Urban
settlements
Other
settlements
Graph 6.3. Take up and impact of benefits for
those living below the poverty line
Attendance and
assistance
allowance
Veteran and
disabled veteran
allowance
MOP
Humanitarian
aid
One off
muncipal cash
subsidy
Child allowance
Parents
allowance
Alimony
0.7%
0.5%
0.5%
0.5%
0.5%
2002 2007
7.2%
8.6%
12.9%
13.1%
19.6%
19.1%
18.7%
17.0%
19.4%
17.3%
25.5%
24.6%
30.7%
34.0%
30.7%
The percentage take up of this benefit by poor
households
The percentage of poor households total expenditure
covered by this benefit
6.1.6. The impact of the benefit
system on the reduction of
poverty
Take up of benefits by households living
below the poverty line in Serbia has significantly
increased in 2007, as compared to 2002. In 2002 of
the total number of households receiving social
assistance, 10.3 percent were living below the
poverty line, in 2007 this rose to 15.0 percent. In
addition, there was an increase in the participation
of households receiving social assistance in the first
quintile, from 19.5 percent in 2002 to 33.6 percent
in 2007. These results clearly indicate benefits are
more successfully reaching the people who need
them (Table 1).
The degree of take up varies by the type of
benefits. However, three benefits stand out as
encompassing the largest number of households and
having the biggest impact on poverty reduction. The
benefits with more take up in 2007 compared to 2002
are:
• Attendance and assistance allowance
• MOP
• Child allowance.
Graph 6.3 shows the take up of various
benefits, it then highlights that only three programs
had a considerable impact on the total finances of
poor households (child allowance, MOP and
attendance and assistance allowance).
6.1.7. Being informed about social
assistance programs and non
claimants
LSMS 2007 shows that households are not
particularly well informed about the possibilities of
receiving certain types of social assistance. Only
11.4 percent of households living below the poverty
line applied for MOP (in the last twelve months)
compared to 2% of the non poor. The main reasons
given for this by households living below the poverty
line was they didn’t know how to apply or were
unaware of the benefit, suggesting that there might
need to be some action in terms of publicising this
benefit. A very similar picture was seen in relation to
humanitarian aid and one time cash benefits (Table
3). It seems that approximately half of poor
households are badly informed on their potential
rights to claim some benefits or are not receiving
74 Living Standards Measurements Study - Serbia 2002 - 2007