Can You Believe This? A Third of Bulgarians Find it Hard to Make Ends Meet!

In Bulgaria, 32% of the population struggles to "make ends meet," according to Eurostat, the European statistical service. This indicator reflects whether households have sufficient financial resources to cover their monthly expenses with their available income. Individuals assess their household's financial situation by choosing from responses like "with great difficulty," "with difficulty," "with some difficulty," "relatively easy," "easy," and "very easy."

Eurostat released data for seven EU countries: Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, and Finland. Among these, Bulgaria's situation is the most concerning. In Bulgaria, 32% of people find it "with great difficulty" or "with difficulty" to make ends meet. In comparison, the percentages for Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, and Finland are 16.7%, 20.8%, 24.2%, 15.7%, 22.2%, and 11.9% respectively.

Conversely, Bulgaria has the smallest proportion of people who have no trouble covering their monthly expenses. Only 6.4% of respondents in Bulgaria indicated they "easily" make ends meet, and just 0.6% manage the family budget "very easily." Thus, only 7% of Bulgarians have no problems with family expenses. By contrast, in Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, and Finland, the percentages of those who "easily" and "very easily" make ends meet are 20.1%, 26.4%, 9.8%, 22.3%, 6.4%, and 37.4% respectively.

In all the countries monitored by Eurostat, people with higher education manage the family budget more easily than those without education. In Austria, Belgium, Finland, and France, nearly one in three individuals with a high level of education...