Lies, damn lies and statistics...

... so the saying goes!

One of the things I do in my job is try to keep abreast of social conditions in Latvia. Consequently a lot of statistics tend to catch my eye. Just now I noticed that the Central Statistical Bureau have increased the Minimum subsistence level per capita to LVL 111.97 (approx. GBP 110 or USD 192) per month. In other words it costs about LVL 120 for each person in Latvia to have the basic requirements put in place by the government of Latvia.

This doesn't sound like much, but in a country where the average state pension at the end of 2004 (latest available figures) was only LVL 70 per month and where the poorest 20% of the population were trying to survive on only LVL 38.42 per month, its clear there is a huge social problem.

On the well publicised surface Latvia appears to be doing well. One of the fastest growing economies in the EU. The guide books show images of the wonderful shopping centres and impressive cultural heritage of the country. One from a few years back suggests that people visit one extremely poor area of Riga to see the traditional wooden houses and experience the smells of frugal meals being cooked on open fires, as if poverty is a tourist attraction. On the way in from the airport it is almost easy to miss the poverty as you see the ever increasing number of new corporate offices and expensive high rise complexes.

But scratch that surface by going only a few blocks in the 'wrong direction' and poverty becomes evident. Leave the city and head off into the countryside and you'd have to be blind to miss the problems!

All this and I hear the message from someone only a couple of weeks ago that 'people do not see Latvia as a developing country' and consequently it'll be tough to get support for The Salvation Army's work here!