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| Salary lists and some Albanian leks |
In Albania, almost half of the employees work without a salary in the family business, but a large category of employees received monthly wages below the poverty level in 2021.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) in the publication on wages at the poverty level verified that almost 17 percent of employees in Albania are paid in the range of 3.2-5.5 USD per day.
Albania was ranked 62nd among 117 countries in the world for the level of working poverty. Also, Albania counts for about 2 percent of employees who receive from 1.9 to 3.2 dollars a day.
Data from the international institution that deals with employment indicators show that, in 2021, a total of 19 percent of employees in the country are paid less than 5.5 USD per day or about 130 USD per month.
Usually the categories of workers in poverty work in the agriculture and service sectors. Their work is concentrated in the seasons and with very low wages.
Although this category of workers is counted as employed, their income from work is below the relative poverty level of USD 5.5 per day.
While poverty in the developed world is often associated with unemployment, the extreme poverty that exists in much of the developing world is primarily a problem for employed people in these societies. For these poor workers, the problem is usually one of employment quality, the ILO explains.
Therefore, reducing poverty in line with the Sustainable Development Goals requires increasing the employment and income opportunities of the working poor, those people who are employed but are unable to lift themselves and their families above the poverty threshold.
Due to the structure of the economy, work in Albania has a low value. According to national statistics, almost half of the employees in Albania are paid at the minimum wage level. This happens since about 40 percent of the employed are in the agricultural sector.