Nearly 300,000 jobs have been preserved in Bulgaria since the beginning of 2020 due to measures and schemes negotiated between the social partners between March and October. However, other 103,000 jobs were lost. The people at risk of poverty and social exclusion, or nearly 32% of the Bulgarian population, have been most affected by the crisis. Bulgaria continues to top the EU ranking in terms of this indicator. The information is part of a survey of the Institute for Social and Trade Union Studies at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), which makes its own studies of consumer prices and cost of living in each quarter of the year.

During the last quarter of 2020, nearly 3 million Bulgarians received monthly incomes ranging between EUR 185 and EUR 320. The number of people who live with money below the official poverty line of EUR 185 has increased with 3% since the beginning of the year. Nearly 2 million Bulgarians remain with incomes below the poverty threshold. The most pronounced contraction of wages has been registered in food service activities (the hotel and restaurant business) – 45% decline. Over 30,000 jobs have been lost in this sector since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Incomes of farm workers have seen a similar decrease.

According to data of CITUB, during the third quarter of the year a four-member household needs EUR 1,282 per month, or EUR 320 per household member, for a normal life without a luxury. These funds are necessary to pay for food, transport, holiday, healthcare, education, maintenance of the dwelling, etc. CITUB President Plamen Dimitrov made the following conclusion referring to the abovementioned data:

“Nearly 68% of the households in the country, or nearly two-thirds of the Bulgarian citizens, live on an income below the subsistence level. Meanwhile, the number of Bulgarians living in poverty increased with 200,000 as compared to December last year.”

According to a survey conducted in the EU countries, quoted by CITUB, the Covid-19 crisis influenced the lifestyle and the working conditions in all member states. Over 44% of all EU citizens are now working from home. Bulgaria is at the bottom of this ranking, as only 26% of the Bulgarians switched over to distance work. “There is a trend towards self-exploitation and overloading, but still it is a way to preserve jobs where possible”, Plamen Dimitrov said further.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov