Child poverty: Possibilities for measurement and models of combating poverty in Serbia

Child poverty in Serbia is not a new phenomenon; it has persisted continuously for more than two decades. Children in Serbia rank among the highest in Europe in terms of risk of poverty. The most important and extensive factor directly affecting poverty is the socio-economic status of the family in which children grow up. There are also indirect factors influencing child poverty, such as wars, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. In the recent period, the Government of the Republic of Serbia has not focused much on resolving child poverty, but instead prioritized economic growth, believing that economic development alone would solve the problem of poverty levels. Based on this approach, it even developed a strategy for poverty reduction. The aim of this research is to highlight child poverty as the greatest social problem, explore possibilities for its measurement, and examine efforts to combat it. The methods used in this study include analysis, synthesis, and statistical techniques. The research results indicate that through the use of its instruments and increased budget allocations for social assistance-such as pension increases, one-time aid payments, and support for the economy to maintain employment-the government has managed to maintain poverty at pre-pandemic, pre-Ukraine war, and pre-global economic crisis levels. However, these measures have not solved the problem of poverty in the long term, but only reduced it superficially. The concluding considerations emphasize that greater budget allocations for social transfers and reforms in tax and social policy are necessary.