The Confederation of Labor (CL) "Podkrepa" and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) issued statements calling for a change in the methodology for determining the poverty line in the country. This information was confirmed by representatives of both unions to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA).
The positions of the unions were presented in connection with an upcoming meeting of the Income and Living Standards Commission of the National Council for Tripartite Cooperation. At this meeting, representatives of the government, unions, and businesses will discuss a draft decree of the Council of Ministers (DCM), which proposes the poverty line for 2026 to be 764 BGN. For comparison, in the current year 2023, its amount is 638 BGN.
CL "Podkrepa" principally supports the new amount of the poverty line for 2026, noting that it has been determined according to the currently active methodology. However, the union expresses concern that "the new amount continues to be significantly below the cost of living in the country". In its statement, published on their official website, CL "Podkrepa" insists on updating the amount and changing the methodology so that it is linked to the real cost of living.
For its part, CITUB emphasizes the importance of the poverty line in the policy of reducing poverty among various social strata, including the "working poor". In its statement, the union recalls that in 2021, a change was made to the methodology for determining the poverty line established two years earlier.
According to CITUB's calculations, the objective poverty line for 2026 should be 782 BGN (400 euros), which represents an increase of 18 BGN above the proposed amount of 764 BGN. The union states that it will support the amount of the poverty line provided that it is indexed to the prices for the small basket composition for December of the previous year.
In the report of Social Minister Borislav Gutsanov to the DCM, published in July, it is stated that "the proposed value of 764 BGN corresponds to the poverty line from the 'Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC)' study". The national poverty line increases by 19.7% (126 BGN) compared to its amount from the previous year and expands the scope of social assistance.
The public discussion of the draft decree ended in early August. It remains to be seen how discussions between the government, unions, and businesses on this important social issue will develop and whether changes will be made to the methodology for determining the poverty line, as the unions insist.