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Bulgarians Spare on Food, Health to Survive Financial Crisis - World Bank

Bulgaria is among the countries most deeply affected by the global financial crisis, according to a World Bank report on the jobs crisis in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In Bulgaria, of the 28 percent of households that reported a direct crisis impact, almost 22 percent reported that labour market conditions had deteriorated compared with the previous year.

Although 35 percent of Bulgarians suffered a labour market shock during the crisis, others found work or increased their hours. These jobs were taken by households that experienced a shock, and because these jobs are likely lower quality, it is not surprising that households also reported income declines, the report says.

In Bulgaria, only 23 percent of all households—and only 7 percent of households in the poorest quintile—reported having savings to rely on during the crisis. 18 percent of poor Bulgarian households reported skipping meals.

As many as 36 percent of Bulgaria's crisis-affected households in quintile 1 (poorest 20 percent) stopped buying regular medications, while 7 percent of households in the richest quintile resorted to this coping strategy. Similarly, 22 percent of poor crisis-affected households and 5 percent of rich crisis-affected households did not visit the doctor after falling ill.

Based on specialized crisis response surveys and government monitoring data, the report, 'The Jobs Crisis: Household and Government Responses to the Great Recession in Eastern Europe and Central Asia', concludes that the crisis' effects were, and continue to be, more acutely felt in Eastern European and Central Asian countries than in any other region in the world