Transforming Post-Communist Political Economies (1998) / Chapter Skim
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13 Vulnerable Populations in Central Europe
13 Vulnerable Populations in Central Europe
Pages 351-369
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From page 351... ...
We would also like to thank, without implicating, our Central European teams led by Jiri Vecernik (Czech Republic) , Endre Sik (Hungary)
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From page 352... ...
Selected characteristics of each survey are presented in Annex Table 13-1. Luxembourg Income Study The Luxembourg Income Study has standardized the income variables and demographic definitions used in the most recent of the Central European surveys so that comparisons among countries can be made.
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From page 353... ...
These effects are discussed in more detail in the following section on poverty estimates. Despite the standardization of the Central European household surveys by the Luxembourg Income Study, biases remain in each survey.
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For comparison, we also use household incomes unadjusted for size. Prior to 1989, only a small percentage of the population in these three Central European countries fell below 50 percent of median income or the poverty line.
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From page 355... ...
And as in Western countries, the Gini coefficients for person-weighted equivalent income distributions were consistently lower than those based on unadjusted household income. Prior to 1989, income inequality among individuals was the smallest in Czechoslovakia among the three countries.
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From page 358... ...
Hungary: 1987 Hungarian Income Survey; 1992 Hungarian Household Panel Survey. Poland: 1987, 1990, 1992 Household Budget Survey.
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From page 359... ...
It should be noted that, as mentioned earlier, a potential source of bias in our estimates of poverty and income distribution is the underreporting of the informal economy in each country. Every communist Central European country had an unreported "second economy." Estimates of the size and distribution of this second economy suggest that it represented approximately 10 percent of national income, a level similar to that found in Italy.
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From page 360... ...
Estimates of the distribution of informal income among income quintiles do not yet exist for other Central European countries. These illustrative estimates on the Hungarian income distribution suggest that if the distribution of informal income for the latter countries is similar, the reported income on their
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From page 361... ...
The Central European countries that employ per capita income scales estimate large rates of poverty, especially among children, while those using equivalence scales, such as the ones used here, estimate lower poverty rates, particularly among children (Szulc, 1995~. Single-parent families constitute the only vulnerable household group that does not include aged members.
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From page 362... ...
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From page 363... ...
Because women receive lower wages than men in both Western and Central Europe, they are also considered more vulnerable than male workers during economic transitions. Registered unemployment rates are higher for women than for men in the Czech Republic and Poland, but they are lower in Hungary (Employment Observatory, 1994~.
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From page 364... ...
Central European consumers also increased their purchases of other luxury durables, such as color rather than black-and-white televisions, during the transition. In Hungary, the number of consumer durables purchased by households without members in the labor force (a group dominated by pensioners)
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From page 365... ...
The governments of Central Europe need reliable household income data to help target social safety net transfers to the most vulnerable individuals and households. In both the Czech Republic and Poland, social safety net programs have been used explicitly to minimize the adverse effects of the economic transition on pensioners (Blanchard et al., 19941.
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From page 366... ...
Paper presented at the Luxembourg Income Study Conference on Economic Hardship and Social Protection in East-Central Europe, Walferdange, Luxembourg, July. Blanchard, O.J., K
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From page 367... ...
Paper presented at the Luxembourg Income Study Conference on "Economic Hardship and Social Protection in East-Central Europe," July, Walferdange, Luxembourg.
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From page 368... ...
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