"This article addresses changes in the standard of living in Serbia since the reform period got underway in 2000. In doing so, the author also addresses poverty, since the two issues are closely bound together. Locating his perspective clearly in the international context of a contemporary world of growing inequality, the author notes that standard of living is a key factor in the success of a political system. Dividing Serbia's post-2000 period into three, the article identifies the successes of the early part of the period which was, however, brought to a juddering halt by the international financial and economic crisis in 2008. Indeed, much of the progress in the early part of the last decade seems to have been reversed, with the standard of living falling again and poverty rising. Tackling this is a complex issue, not least given that necessary reforms in the education system pose tough questions in the context of a ‘brain drain', while improvements in health, equally necessary as part of the same strategy, have a long way to go to overcome existing perspectives and problems. "

Support: Digital;Paper