Half of the employees in Serbia receive less than 53.000 dinars, which is the median salary. But residents of various cities in Serbia say that they need at least twice as much for a decent life
The average salary is not enough for a normal life in Serbia, according to the citizens of Serbia, especially considering the fact that most of them have incomes lower than the official average. The average salary in Serbia, according to data for February this year, was 94.125 dinars, but every second resident earns less than 73.000 dinars.
According to the data of the Republic Institute of Statistics, only ten cities in the country "pull out" the average, of which only three record average earnings higher than 100.000 dinars - Belgrade, Novi Sad and Bor, and seven have more than 90.000 on average. The second group includes Pančevo, Lajkovac, Lucani, Kragujevac, Majdanpek, Kostolac and Niš.
Most have incomes between 70.000 and 80.000, and 19 cities and municipalities average less than 70.000, such as Arilje, Rekovac, Aleksandrovac, Raška, Golubac, Bojnik, Vlasotince, Lebane, Crna Trava, Gadžin Han, Merošina, Ražanj, Svrljig, Bela Palanka, Vranjska Banja, Bosilegrad, Bujanovac, Preševo and Blace.
On the other hand, the average consumer basket at the level of the entire country, according to the latest data for January of this year, amounts to more than 102.000 dinars, and the minimum is almost 53.000 dinars.
The results of polls by six local media from Serbia indicate that the average salary for residents in smaller cities is insufficient for a normal life and that they need at least 100.000 dinars per person per month.
In Srem, they pay less than the national average
According to the latest data of the Republic Institute of Statistics, the average net salary in Srem for February this year was 83.874 dinars. Workers from Inđija have the highest salaries, with an average salary of 88.354 dinars, followed by those from Pazov with 84.696 dinars and from Mitrovica with 84.141 dinars. The average salary of the people of Peć is 83.967 dinars, while the average monthly salary of the residents of Rum is 82.169 dinars. In Šid, the average income is 78.009 dinars, while the people of Irizan earned an average of 76.673 dinars net.
According to the survey they conducted Srem newspaper, to the question "What, in your opinion, is the minimum wage sufficient for living in your city?", Sremci mostly answered unanimously. With a few deviations, the most common response from readers (about 60 percent) was 100.000 dinars, which corresponds to the amount of the average shopping basket.
"Whoever educates children terribly much, everything is too expensive, not to mention books and notebooks, let alone the excursion... It's horrible, and the necessities of life with these salaries, you need at least 2.000 euros for a family of five", pointed out one of the readers of the Srem newspaper. in a survey posted on the official Facebook page of this media.
"For two, 150.000 dinars is not enough. This includes bills, loans, food, and where is the fuel, who has a car and children, they need 300.000, given the current prices," adds another citizen of Srema.
The reality in Kruševac is significantly different from the official statistics
Although, when the statistical data are recalculated, it comes to the fact that for the average consumer basket, which includes expenses for a three-member family, it is necessary to set aside about 1,23 of the average Kruševac salary, the reality, based on what fellow citizens said, is significantly different.
The average net salary in Kruševac was 83.077 dinars. Neighbors, however, say that living in this city requires significantly more money, especially if we are talking about multi-member families, i.e. families with two or more children, the portal writes. Odjek.rs.
Marija Nikolić, who has three children aged 12 to 17, says that they spend most of their money on food.
"As a family, we spend about 150.000 for food and household chemicals, and about 30.000 for utilities." In the last few years, the expenditure on food has increased by at least 60 percent. Unfortunately, the income didn't even come close to keeping up with those expenses. Also, every month you need to add at least 20.000 dinars to the purchase of clothes, there are also various expenses such as fuel, paying for sports, money for pocket money, birthdays..." said Nikolić.
A special category, as far as the cost of living is concerned, is made up of families who have a student. Fellow citizen Dejan Savić explains that they allocate a minimum of 600 euros per month for their older son, who is studying in Belgrade.
The three of them in Kruševac spend about 60.000 dinars on food per month, they need about 10.000 dinars for fuel, and about 26.000 dinars for bills.
"To that we need to add expenses for English and sports, which will be another ten thousand, then for pocket money for the younger child and for various birthdays." There is always an additional cost like car registration, home repairs. This does not even include expenses for clothes, shoes, if we pay for a vacation... All in all, we reach about 250.000 dinars per month," says this citizen of Kruševac.
The calculations of Kruševlja residents who responded to the question about costs via social networks show that a family of four in that city needs at least 200.000 dinars per month to live.
A minimum of 100.000 is required for a decent life in Šabac
According to official data, the average net salary in Šabac is 83.407 dinars. The last available data are for January, where the amount of the average consumer basket for Šabac is 98.950 dinars, and the funds that cover the costs of the minimum consumer basket are 51.533 dinars.
On the official Facebook page Voice of Podrinja, this local portal asked its fellow citizens "What, in their opinion, is the minimum wage needed to live in Šabac?". The most common answer was RSD 100.000. About 80 percent of those surveyed said so.
Ten percent of the people of Šapčan believe that the need is 120.000 dinars and more, five percent declared for more than 200.000 dinars, and the remaining five percent wrote figures of less than 100.000 dinars.
"If I were to roughly calculate, I could estimate that the monthly costs would be between 75.000 and 80.000 dinars." The monthly income is around 120.000 and I can neither say that we are thrifty nor that we spend uncontrollably. My wife and I try, first of all for the sake of the child, but also for us, that the diet is varied and healthy, but we also do not avoid fast food when time or desire requires it," states one of the responses of Šabac residents.
"Our household income is about 160.000 dinars, my husband's salary is 100.000, mine is 60.000. Since we are parents of a small child, we allocate between 15.000 and 20.000 per month, which includes the costs of kindergarten, diapers and other expenses. We live in our house, but we took out a loan for renovation and the monthly installment is 15.000 dinars. Since we are far from the city, my husband works in shifts, we need two cars, which includes expenses for gasoline on a monthly level of about 10.000 dinars," is one of the examples from Šabac, while another answer adds: "From 100.000 to 120.000 dinars yes you can afford a normal life. That you don't run around markets where there are stocks, that you pay your obligations, that your life be stress-free, that you live from today to tomorrow!"
And how do the citizens of Kraljevo live?
The average monthly net salary in Kraljevo in January was 79.841 dinars. With these incomes, the residents of Kraljevo are below the national average. Statistics also show that the average salary in Kraljevo was not enough for the average portošac basket, as it amounted to 102.045 dinars in January. The people of Kraljevo could only afford the minimum consumer basket, which for the same period this year cost 52.776 dinars.
Answers to the survey conducted by the portal Krug.rs from Kraljevo are colorful. While every other person believes that the minimum wage in Kraljevo should be at least 100.000 dinars, that is, almost twice as much as it is now, 19 percent believe that a decent life for a four-member family requires earnings in the range of 100.00 to 150.000.
15 percent of them believe that more than 150.000 is needed for that, and 240.000 percent that a decent life requires earnings of more than 60.000 dinars, that is, at least 100.000 dinars per person. Only nine percent of those surveyed are convinced that a family can live decently with an income of less than XNUMX dinars.
Pensioner Dobrila Filipović, despite the fact that she lives in her studio apartment in the city, with an income of 27.000 dinars for the minimum consumer basket, she says, she can only dream.
"I haven't seen any of the promised pension increases, it's all a colorful lie, because they increase pensions with 'budja', and we pensioners are miserable."
Gavrilo Marković from Kraljevo says that with a salary of 70.000 dinars he can barely support himself. For today's prices, a more than decent rent with other expenses allocates about a hundred euros.
"I'm not married." The salary alone is barely enough for me, let alone having a family. I spend only on the basics, I rarely run out of anything."
Citizens of Leskovac on the "endurance test"
"Life in Leskovac is increasingly a test of endurance, unfortunately," wrote one of the participants in the survey in response to the question "In your opinion, what is the minimum wage needed to live in Leskovac?" This question was also asked by JUPress on their social networks.
The largest number of answers is that the minimum wage should be at least 100.000 dinars. As this local media writes, Leskovac has been in the last place for years in terms of the amount of wages paid, but most of the people of Leskovac do not believe in the official statistics according to which the last average wage paid in this city was 71.893 dinars, which is 22.000 dinars less than the national average. average.
"The average salary depends primarily on the members of the family, how many members work, if we were to take a family of four, a husband and wife with two children, it would be a minimum figure of 200", says one interlocutor in a street survey, while another believes that the minimum 000-50.000 dinars per household member are required.
"Costs increase if you don't own an apartment or a house, or if you have a household member who has a serious illness," adds a resident of Leskov.
When you calculate what is needed for a normal life, says one of the answers from Leskovac, there is nothing left for a vacation.
"God forbid if there is also a health problem, so it is necessary to go to private doctors." Paying bills for the apartment (heating, electricity, water, utilities, tax, cable), that's 30.000 dinars. For a car, about 10.000-15.000 is spent on fuel, and if it breaks down, then it is a bigger financial problem. As for food, we still have 35.000 dinars left. Divided into 30 days, it turns out that we can spend around 1.150 dinars per day. This is the minimum for food," explains a JUGPress survey participant.
What do the citizens of Prijepolje say?
"Minimum wage enough to survive? 20.000 - to eat Parisier and graze grass, 50.000 - to pay taxes and eat more modestly, 100.000 - to live a little more normally, but be careful how he spends money", is one of the answers to the question about the minimum wage needed to live in Prijepolje.
In a survey he conducted TV Forum from Prijepolje, there are many different comments, but the majority are those who think that around 100.000 dinars would be the right measure of income for life, that is, as many defined it, for a decent life, and not just mere survival.
"At any moment, a married couple at least meets the national averages for a normal life and functioning of a family. So at the moment, two 95.000 dinars each", "100.000 dinars realistically, everything has gone up, and the labor force remains the same", "as much as the president of the municipality has and all the benefits that belong to him", are some of the answers from Prijepolje.
The average salary in Prijepolje, paid in February, which amounted to 70.352 dinars, lags behind the national average by more than 25 percent. Many respondents from this city believe that work is not properly valued and that employers pay their employees insufficiently in Prijepolje.
"The minimum for all of us is not to splurge and to appreciate what we have." If only these braggarts and the worse paid ones would understand - what a survivor is. The full does not trust the hungry", is one of the answers from Prijepolje.
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