Survey finds 15 percent pensioners live in poverty

November 17, Pozirk. In Belarus, 15.1 percent of pensioners are experiencing financial difficulties, while 2 percent do not even have enough money to buy food, according to a poll conducted by the National Academy of Sciences.

A phone survey of 600 people aged 58 and older was conducted between July and August.

About a third of respondents did not report any problems, 37.1 percent complained of health issues, 12.8 percent felt lonely, 6.5 percent complained of problems in relations with their family members and 4.8 percent, of poor living conditions, chief researcher Alaksandar Bielski has told journalists at the survey presentation in Minsk.

More than 78 percent of respondents were “satisfied with their life,” while 15 percent said they were not and 6.4 percent did not answer the question. More than a quarter of respondents were not satisfied with the quality of local healthcare services.