autor/i: Lidija Kuzmanov

Analysis: Elderly poverty in Serbia and Agenda 2030 (Summary)

SDGs for All Platform

2022.

Author: Lidija Kuzmanov

Summary

The Elderly poverty in Serbia and Agenda 2030 Analysis, authored by Lidija Kuzmanov, was prepared in June of 2022 within the framework of the Advisory Thematic Group – Eradicating Poverty within the SDGs for ALL Platform.

As part of the analysis, the Sustainable Development Goal aimed at eradicating poverty (SDG 1) was presented, as well as the progress of the Republic of Serbia towards its fulfillment. Significant progress has been achieved in reducing the risk of poverty and the risk of poverty or social exclusion, both in short (2016–2020) and long-term period (2013–2020). The population over-65, however, is the only age group that has been moving away from the target and whose poverty has increased over the past five years.

The analysis offers an overview of trends in the area of the elderly poverty, both absolute and relative, and considers the importance of pensions for reducing poverty, the pension to average wage ratio, as well as the minimum or average consumption basket to pension ratio. The constant decrease in the average pension to average wage ratio in the period from 2009 to 2020, as well as the constant ratio of the minimum consumer basket to the average pension at the level of around 1.4, indicates the worsening financial position of the elderly.

Within the segment dedicated to the measures taken against poverty of the elderly, the analysis provides an overview of financial social assistance, as currently the only type of measure against poverty in the Republic of Serbia. Financial social assistance is one of the basic material benefits aimed at the poor, and the analysis shows that the conditions for exercising the right to this benefit are not favorable to the elderly, and in certain segments, are even unfair to them.

The analysis also presents the international strategic and the national legislative framework of the Republic of Serbia and points to the lack of a national strategic framework aimed at reducing the poverty of the elderly in the Republic of Serbia.

Given the demographic trends, goals of the 2030 Agenda and the worsening material situation of the elderly, the necessity of adopting a strategic framework that would, along with harmonization with the international framework, contribute to a comprehensive and integrated response to the mentioned problem in the future period is one of the main recommendations of the analysis.

Analysis: Elderly poverty in Serbia and Agenda 2030 (in Serbian)

Document/publication was produced within the “SDG For All” Platform, supported by the Governments of Switzerland and Germany and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
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