SERBIA: 720.000 PEOPLE BELOW POVERTY LINE, FIGURES
(ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, MAY 5 - Roughly 720,000 people in Serbia live below the poverty line, while the number of indigent persons has begun to grow for the first time since 2000, reports radio B92. Ljubomir Pejakovic, advisor to Serbiàs minister for labor and social policy, said that those without jobs, particularly people above the age of 50, disabled people and families with developmentally challenged children, faced the greatest threats from poverty. According to the records of the Labor and Social Policy Ministry, Serbia has around 720,000 unemployed citizens, 55% of whom are women. More than 480,000 have been without jobs for more than one year. The highest number of unemployed persons is in the 25 to 29 age group. Zoran Stojiljkovic, vice president of the Nezavisnost (Independence) Trade Union, said unemployment would not go down in Serbia this year, even at the expected economic growth of one or 1.5%. He listed poor education which is not adjusted to the needs of the market, privatization lapses and corruption as obstacles to reducing poverty. Gordana Matkovic of the Economics Institute said the crisis had reduced the number of seasonal jobs and wages globally and in Serbia. She pointed out particularly the regional differences in poverty in Serbia.(ANSAmed). 2010-05-05 16:04 http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME02.XAM16043.html __._,_.___
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