Comparative Assessment of Poverty Indicators in the European Part of the CIS and the European Union as a Social Criterion of Economic Security

The presented study comparatively analyzes indicators of the level of poverty and social inequality in Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, and the European Union (EU) as a criterion of national economic security.

Aim. The study aims to examine existing approaches to determining the level of poverty and its dynamics and to consider suggestions for improving this methodology.

Tasks. The authors examine and comparatively analyze approaches and methods for determining the level of poverty and its dynamics in the European Union and the CIS countries that are not members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Methods. This study uses the methods of systems analysis, evolutionary-institutional theory, and historical approach.

Results. Determining the level of poverty based on the number of citizens with incomes below the subsistence level can lead to misrepresentation of the actual state of this phenomenon. Calculation of poverty indicators based on consumer spending provides more accurate data on the level of poverty in a country where a significant share of the population’s income is generated by remittances from individuals living abroad, which are not reflected in official income statistics. A comparative analysis of poverty dynamics shows that in 2013 the level of poverty in all four examined countries decreased compared to 2006. Poverty dynamics in Russia and Belarus is more synchronized than in Ukraine and Moldova. A common methodology for calculating the level of poverty in all EU countries makes it possible to conduct a more thorough comparative analysis of poverty dynamics and to formulate more accurate recommendations in the field of anti-poverty policies. Based on the identified poverty dynamics in the EU and Russia, it is highly possible that strategic objectives on poverty reduction in the European Union and Russia will not be completed.

Conclusions. To exclude the possibility of interested authorities influencing the dynamics of the poverty indicator by changing its threshold values depending on the current economic or political situation, it is necessary to switch to comprehensive assessment of this indicator in Russia. For comparative cross-country data analysis, it is advisable to consider the possibility of creating a Eurasian Statistics Service within the EAEU that would collect statistics and standardize statistical methods among the EAEU member states.

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