[size=55:hkkp1aus]BNR

Survey on living standard and major problems of Bulgarians

A recent survey conducted by the Bulgarian sociological agency Estat, unemployment, the low living standard and poverty are among the major concerns of Bulgarians today. The survey has been carried out in mid-June at the initiative of DNES Civic Association that has become the organizer of the fierce discontent and protests against the monopolies in Bulgaria. The data we received exceeds our expectations in negative terms”, says Ivo Zhelev, manager of Estat Agency.

The polled citizens point to the increased level of unemployment in the country as a major problem. Whereas during the survey in May last year, 29% of the polled were unemployed, this share now is 32%. Quite logically, the concern over the low incomes and poverty as consequence of the general economic recession and employment in particular comes second. Over half of Bulgarian families live with a common income of up to 250 Euro with the majority of them being in working age, the survey indicates. The average working salary in Bulgaria for the first quarter of this year has been 340 euro. The surveyors point to a clear change in the chart of problems that worry Bulgarians today. More from Ivo Zhelev, manager of Estat Sociological Agency.

“An interesting fact is that topics such as corruption and crime have almost lost the public attention. A logical explanation to that might be not that these problems have been solved but that simply the issues related to the immediate survival of people and their families have displaced everything else.

At the question to what extent the economic crisis has been affecting your living standard, 93.5% say that they feel the effects of the crisis only too directly. As little as 1.5% say that the crisis has not affected them or their families, with this group accounting for a little over 100,000 people – an insignificant figure compared to a total of 7.5 million Bulgarians. The prevailing expectations for the future are not optimistic either, Ivo Zhelev says.

“One of the most interesting results in this survey is that more than three thirds of Bulgarians expect their future with indifference, concern or despair. Among people over the age of 60, this share exceeds 85%. Naturally, the prospering groups of the population are enthusiastic and optimistic – these are young, educated people with good incomes. However, their number is constantly diminishing.”

The share of the so-called marginal groups has been slowly expanding. These are people who are at the bottom of society and there is almost no way in which we could describe the degree of drama in which they live, Ivo Zhelev says. According to the poll, the main spheres in which the state has to act more strongly are healthcare, education and opening new jobs.

How do people see the economic priorities of the state authorities?

“More than 90% say that a priority should be the regulating of fuel prices and ending the arbitrary actions of monopolies. The next priorities are the construction of roads and the completion of the Belene NPP. The highest number of positive expectations are seen in the attitude to the construction of highways and repairs to existing roads”, Ivo Zhelev says.

More than half of the polled say that the responsibility for the current economic situation in the country belongs to the former and current government. As little as 13 per cent of the polled believe that the bad economic situation in Bulgaria is actually a result of the global economic crisis.