Albania has not yet officially estimated a living wage, which would make it the only country in Europe to be in such a situation. According to the Voice of America, the experts believe that the Albanian government do not officially estimate a living wage, “in order to avoid the obligations arising from the poverty compensation schemes.” Based on the World Bank standard, around 40% of Albania’s population lives below the poverty line, which would still make poverty one of the biggest challenges of Albania, 30 years after the fall of Communism.
So far, the amount of GDP dedicated to the support of the poverty schemes is less than 10%. Having an officially recognized living wage would push Albanian governments to raise support towards those in need. Until now, all the previous governments have managed to avoid confrontation with such a problem. Also, the experts suggest that even the calculation of poverty so far has been done not in the proper way. Those in charge of these policies should take into consideration the medium income of each family, and the labor force in disposition. These policies should stimulate also the need of proper professional qualifications as a mechanism to exit from poverty.
