Economist: State Statistics Committee Hides Degree of Social Stratification

State statistics are silent about the data on social stratification and the distribution of national income. For this reason, it is impossible to calculate the depth of social stratification in Azerbaijan.

True, this does not prevent it from being observed, but such analyzes are not included in the field of research of the State Statistics Committee, and the value of the Gini coefficient - the quantitative measure of the degree of inequality of different income distribution options - is not reflected in the countless available publications of the State Statistics Committee.

The Gini index reflects the degree of income inequality. "The higher the inequality in the distribution of income, the greater the "equity index" is approaching 1, drawing a picture of the absolute inequality. And the higher the equality in income distribution, the lower the Gini coefficient," the economist Rovshan Agayev said, noting that in our country such measurements are not carried out at all, and there is no statistical indicator of the degree of stratification of society.

The circumstance of the complete absence of methods widely used in international practice for assessing existing inequalities and analyzing social changes is impressive against the backdrop of the government's economic reforms, since poverty is recognized as one of the problems hindering economic growth. "If the income gap grows, then economic growth decreases," the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study said. The IMF comes to a similar conclusion, considering that if the share of income of the 20% of the richest people in the total volume grows, then in the medium term, the growth of the economy will decrease.

Meanwhile, judging by official statements, due to revenues from economic reforms, the Azerbaijani government intends to raise social welfare. Moreover, the implementation of literate social policy is officially considered to be the priority direction of the declared reforms, but in fact there are not even available data on the distribution of national income. Accordingly, it is not known what objective calculations are the bases for statements about the growing social welfare, and what mechanisms of calculation will justify further discussions on this topic. "The lack of analysis of social stratification is evidence of an unprofessional approach in the sphere of social protection of the population and the absence of an effective social policy that is in the public interest," Agayev said.

Social stratification reflects the existence of inequality in society. It shows that strata (groups of people with similar characteristics in social space) exist under different conditions and people have unequal opportunities to meet their needs. Inequality is the source of stratification in society. Thus, inequality reflects differences in the access of representatives of each layer to social goods, and stratification is a sociological characteristic of the structure of society as a set of layers. -0-