Is Br600 thousand the real Belarusian average wage?
Only 30% of the population are getting the average wage or more, claim experts. ERB has tried to find out how the average wage is calculated in Belarus, where the people who get it are and how much Belarusians will feel that the wage has increased to $500. The authorities have promised that Belarusians’ average wage will reach 500 dollars by the end of the year. Let us remind you that it totals 370 dollars now. “Do you know what the average wage in Belarus is and do you get it?” – we have asked passers-by about it in the street:
— I do not remember exactly…
— I think its 370 bucks.
— Yeah, it’s about three hundreds. Maybe between three and four hundreds?
— I know it is supposed to reach 500!
Is your wage bigger or smaller than the average wage?
— Much smaller – maybe thrice smaller.
— Taking into account my combined wage - I work in two jobs – it is bigger, however, if you take only my state job into account it will be far from this average level.
Where are the people getting the average wage? An economist Syarhei Chaly has commented on the situation for ERB:
“It turns out like this because the distribution of income based on the number of population is very asymmetrical. It means that a very small number of people make a lot while the majority of people have low wages. As a result, it turns out that a relatively small number of people get the average wage. Only about 30% of the populations get his sum”.
Let’s go back to the official statistics. According to Belstat, 43.5% of Belarusians got from 500 thousand to 1 million rubles in 2009. The average wage was about a million back then, said a press secretary of Belstat Victar Mahno to ERB:
“43.5% of all workers got from 500 thousand to 1 million. 21.1% - from 1 to 1.5 millions, 7.7% - from 1.5 to 2 millions and 4.2% - from 2 to 3 millions. 1% of people got less than 200 thousands. There are not that much extremely reach or poor people here”.
The information dates back to May 2009. According to Mr. Mihno, the survey is conducted once in two years because it is expensive. The next one will take place in May 2011.
The real average wage totals 600 thousands in Belarus, thinks an economist Syarhei Chaly. Such faults occur due to the fact that the simple average wage is calculated in our country which made sense in the Soviet time when people had equal wages. The expert says that it is necessary to calculate the medial wage now:
“The median is all the population getting wages divided in two parts: half of the people will be getting less that the sum and the other half – more. This will be the real wage. At the moment it is about 600 or 700 thousands. The simple average wage calculated by Belstat dates back to the Soviet time when the population was not differentiated by income. It had sense back then. Now this simple average is only an arithmetic sum having no real sense”.
Is it real to reach the average wage of 500 dollars by the end of the year? Mr. Chaly thinks that it is really possible but 90% of the population will not feel the change:
“The government accepted a few decrees from March to May. According to them, bonus salaries in high-paid jobs including managers and heads of enterprises had to be increased by several times as a result of predicted indexes etc.
In fact, instead of increasing the number of people getting less than the average wage, they have started increasing the income of the overwhelming minority. It means the result will be the same – the average wage will increase but 90% of the population will not feel it”.
— I do not remember exactly…
— I think its 370 bucks.
— Yeah, it’s about three hundreds. Maybe between three and four hundreds?
— I know it is supposed to reach 500!
Is your wage bigger or smaller than the average wage?
— Much smaller – maybe thrice smaller.
— Taking into account my combined wage - I work in two jobs – it is bigger, however, if you take only my state job into account it will be far from this average level.
Where are the people getting the average wage? An economist Syarhei Chaly has commented on the situation for ERB:
“It turns out like this because the distribution of income based on the number of population is very asymmetrical. It means that a very small number of people make a lot while the majority of people have low wages. As a result, it turns out that a relatively small number of people get the average wage. Only about 30% of the populations get his sum”.
Let’s go back to the official statistics. According to Belstat, 43.5% of Belarusians got from 500 thousand to 1 million rubles in 2009. The average wage was about a million back then, said a press secretary of Belstat Victar Mahno to ERB:
“43.5% of all workers got from 500 thousand to 1 million. 21.1% - from 1 to 1.5 millions, 7.7% - from 1.5 to 2 millions and 4.2% - from 2 to 3 millions. 1% of people got less than 200 thousands. There are not that much extremely reach or poor people here”.
The information dates back to May 2009. According to Mr. Mihno, the survey is conducted once in two years because it is expensive. The next one will take place in May 2011.
The real average wage totals 600 thousands in Belarus, thinks an economist Syarhei Chaly. Such faults occur due to the fact that the simple average wage is calculated in our country which made sense in the Soviet time when people had equal wages. The expert says that it is necessary to calculate the medial wage now:
“The median is all the population getting wages divided in two parts: half of the people will be getting less that the sum and the other half – more. This will be the real wage. At the moment it is about 600 or 700 thousands. The simple average wage calculated by Belstat dates back to the Soviet time when the population was not differentiated by income. It had sense back then. Now this simple average is only an arithmetic sum having no real sense”.
Is it real to reach the average wage of 500 dollars by the end of the year? Mr. Chaly thinks that it is really possible but 90% of the population will not feel the change:
“The government accepted a few decrees from March to May. According to them, bonus salaries in high-paid jobs including managers and heads of enterprises had to be increased by several times as a result of predicted indexes etc.
In fact, instead of increasing the number of people getting less than the average wage, they have started increasing the income of the overwhelming minority. It means the result will be the same – the average wage will increase but 90% of the population will not feel it”.
