The National Statistical Institute has started the annual survey of household budgets. The survey aims to collect up-to-date data on the income, expenses and consumption of Bulgarian households. The information will be used solely for statistical purposes and in the development of social policies. The survey has been conducted in our country since 1953, and is fully compliant with European standards and practices applied in all countries of the European Union.
In the Burgas region, 270 households, selected at random, will participate in the survey. They are divided into three groups of 90 and will be surveyed four times within a year.
Dochka Kamburova, Director of the Territorial Statistical Bureau - Southeast: “The main goal of the survey of household budgets is to obtain information on the income and expenses of households and the living standard of the population in the Republic of Bulgaria. And this information is used by both state institutions and the population, public organizations, international organizations.”
Interviewers visit households on site. A questionnaire with the socio-demographic data of family members is filled out, as well as special diaries.
Dochka Kamburova, Director of the Territorial Statistical Bureau - Southeast: “In this diary, they fill in the passes and expenses that were made during the current month. The diaries themselves fill in the quantity of the purchased goods or the service performed, the value. In addition, they fill in irregular income and expenses that were made during the previous two months.”
According to some households, the family budget is becoming increasingly difficult to plan. Although incomes for some are growing, expenses are outpacing them. The most noticeable is the increase in the price of food and utility bills. Vanya says that the standard of living is not improving, and it is difficult to allocate funds for family vacations and entertainment.
Vanya Kiryazova: “We are trying to fit in. If you think about it - 300 leva are the insurances, 100 leva at least for electricity, telephones, TV, internet, utility bills, food, we have not bought any furniture, we have not bought any equipment.”
Ani, pensioner: “We want to have children, to have growth, to have a birth rate. Well, how can that be? When everyone counts every penny to the last and still there are not enough. For me, there is simply no decent life for people who work, let alone our parents.”
Monitoring of household budgets in newly elected households started at the beginning of February.