Lom, Bulgaria

Lom is a municipality in the district of Montana in the North-Western administrative region of Bulgaria. It is located in the Northern part of Montana, witha port on the river Danube. The municipality of Lom consists of the city of Lom, the administrative centre, and nine villages, of which four are larger and have their own mayor. Lom is the fourth largest municipality in the district and is 323,894 sq.km.

It is the second largest Danube port in Bulgaria. The supposedly important territorial position and the presence of a port, however, no longer provide an economic advantage. One reason is that the major transport arteries follow the two Danube bridges between Bulgaria and Romania and the ferryboat connections. River transport has declined and the river ports across the Danube, once very important, are now all in decline.

Lom had a population of 23,967 as of 2019. However, this has declined from 31,170 in 2007, as a result of the ageing population, high mortality rates and international and internal out-migration. The Municipal Development Plan of Lom 2014-2020 and the Municipal Development Plan of Lom 2021-202 both explicitly identified concerns that there are very few young people in the municipality.

Mortality rates for the district are higher than national rates, being 21.8% in 2019, more than 5% higher than the national level. Overall, Bulgaria has the highest mortality rates in the world. The main reasons for the high mortality rate are issues such as poverty, social exclusion of ethnic minorities, disabled citizens, uneven health-care infrastructure, and the organisation of health-care insurance. Lack of access to affordable health care, especially for those who can’t pay for health insurance, excludes people from having timely treatments, and further increases the mortality rate ^[1] . Therefore, smaller localities in less developed regions, such as Lom, with high numbers of people living in poverty and social exclusion, suffer from even higher mortality rates.

The population of the municipality identifies themselves predominantly as ethnic Bulgarians, with the Roma population accounting for 19% in the city of Lom in 2011 (compared to 4.9% at the national level). The age structure of the Roma population differs from the average with lower life expectancy, with very few people above 70 years. The majority of the Roma are in the age group 0-29, equally distributed between the age group 0-9, followed by 10-19 and 20-29.

Municipalities in Bulgaria have independent budgets, based on their own financial sources and state subsidies. However, despite municipalities having their own financial sources, the decentralised level accounts for a relatively small share of public expenditure - only 20% compared to the 34% of public expenditure for the EU28. 

The regional disparities between the capital city and the rest of the country are wide and continue to grow, something which was further intensified through the COVID-19 crisis. Regional income differences are larger than in most OECD countries. The capital city and the South-West region concentrate most of the national prosperity, whereas the North-West and North-Central regions have the highest declines in GDP and lowest socio-economic indicators.

Montana district is among the least economically developed in the country ^[ 2 ] , a trend which Lom follows closely. The share of people living at risk of poverty or social exclusion at a national level has decreased from 44.8% in 2008 to 32.5% in 2019. However, for the district of Montana, the share increased from 35.3% to 41.3%The rate of those living in material deprivation has also grown within Montana, from 19.3% in 2008 to 22.7% in 2019.

The Roma in the district and in the municipality in particular experience higher rates of poverty and social exclusion. This is consistent with the national trend which in 2017 showed that 90% of the Roma were at risk of poverty or social exclusion nationally, compared to 38.9 % of Bulgarians, and 77.2% of the Roma were living in poverty, compared to 15.7% of ethnic Bulgarians ^[ 3 ] .

In recent years, the education system in Bulgaria has been improving. In 2018, 24.9% of the working age population had higher education qualifications (an increase of 6.4% vs. 2007), with only 21.3% having an education level of primary or lower. However, Bulgaria is still behind the EU average of 28.5%, with the North-western region lagging even further behind at 19.9%.

The quality of education is a concern according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-2018 ^[ 4 ] . Bulgaria comes in at 83 ^rd  globally, and 26 ^th  within the EU (ahead of only Hungary and Croatia). This is not a surprise, as Bulgaria’s position has been going down for the past decade, which can somewhat be contributed to the fact that Bulgaria’s spending on education is among the lowest in EU.

There are 12 schools in the municipality, of which 3 are vocational high schools. Out of the 12 school, 4 primary schools are in villages. Children from neighbouring villages have access to the schools in Lom through subsidised school transport. Two of the schools have been identified as "segregated", where the majority of children are from Roma background with parents with lower educational status - and the schools are seen as providing lower educational quality to students ^[ 5 ] .

When it comes to gender equality, the Gender Equality Index shows that Bulgaria ranks 92 ^nd  in enrolment in primary education and 119 ^th  in enrolment in secondary education. However, when it comes to enrolment in higher education, Bulgaria ranks number 1 with a ratio of 1:24 between men and women.

In Lom, only 24% of young people continue in education after 8th grade (i.e. high school). In comparison the national rate is 31%. This shows a tendency toward early dropouts, i.e. during the lower secondary stage before high school. While at the national level we can see a slight decrease in early leavers, from 14.9% in 2007 to 13.9% in 2018, for the North-western region there is an increase of almost 6% from 17.1% to 22.9%, with the share of boys leaving being higher than that of girls.

The number of people not in education, employment or training (NEET) for the age group of 15- 24 have dropped from 19.1% on 2007 to 13.7% in 2019. However, these numbers are still higher than the average for the EU which is 10.1% for the same year (Eurostat). The indicator is higher for women with 20.6% falling to 14.5% for the respective years, and for men with 7.7% dropping to 12.7%.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many negative effects on students both in terms of their academic performances and their social and psychological wellbeing. Children from vulnerable groups who are living in precarious conditions, such as Roma children, have been particularly affected by the switch to online learning due to a lack of devices and internet access. According to research conducted by the Institute for Research in Education, the effects of online learning have resulted in lower educational performance, educational disengagement, an increase in educational inequalities, and limiting the educational opportunities of vulnerable students ^[ 6 ] .

On a strategic level, there are multiple strategies and policies designed to improve educational outcomes and tackle inequalities. These include a common Strategy on employment, a strategy for decreasing the number of early leavers (2013-2020), a strategy for raising literacy (2014-2020), a Framework programme for integrating the Roma in Bulgarian Society (2010-2020), a Convention for fighting discrimination in education, and a strategy for development of professional education (2015-2020 and 2019-2020). The main focus of these strategies and the connected with them National action plans, are to avoid drop-outs and early leavers and to connect education with the labour market through professional specialization and plans for a dual system of simultaneous education and work.

A strategic document by the Ministry of Education for the period of 2021 to 2030 evaluates the progress in the time from 2015 up until 2020 in several key areas: prevention of early dropouts, providing additional support for children with special needs, providing inclusive education for children from vulnerable communities such as Roma, etc.

As a result of this, there will be many changes to help improve education for students. Examples of this include: providing increased support for children with special educational needs - more specialists been hired for both kindergartens and schools; special efforts for inclusive education for children from vulnerable groups such as Roma and refugee children; and a new Centre for educational integration for children from ethnic minorities has been created within the Ministry of Education. An investment priority named “Socio-economic integration of marginalized communities including the Roma” has been included in the science and education operational programme.

Alongside this, the Mechanism for coordinated work of educational institutions for prevention of school dropouts has been created on a nation-wide level. As a result of this Mechanism, in the period of 2017-2020, 51,460 children have returned to school or enrolled for the first time. The number of children of school-age not in school has reduced from 8.47% in 2018/2019 to 4.73% in 2019/2020, and the number of schoolchildren continuing education after the 8 ^th  grade has also increased ^[ 7 ] .

All forms of segregated schools and classes, which existed in the 1990s and early 2000s, have been closed. They primarily affected the Roma community, leading to them having a lower quality of education overall. Regulations now prevent separate classes or schools for Roma children, gifted and not gifted children. However, many neighbourhoods and villages which are primarily Roma are still ethnically segregated, resulting in lower standards and performance ^[ 8 ] .

At a municipal level, only 24% of those in early stages of education continue after the 8 ^th  grade. In comparison, the national rate is at 31%, which shows a tendency towards early dropout. In the North-western region there was an increase from 17.1% in 2007 to 22.9% in 2018, a trend which can also be seen in Lom. However, the local representative on Education, Culture, Faith and Demographic Issues at the Municipality reports that 100% of children are included in the mandatory pre-school and school level. He states that this is the result of the positive policies implemented since 2007 aiming at including all children in the educational system ^[ 9 ] .

On a policy level, there have been multiple programmes that ensure equal access to education for every child in the municipality. These policies include free school transport and textbooks, in-school healthcare, and warm food once a day (on every school day) for children from vulnerable families. The minimal tax was abolished in 2020. These policies aim at eradicating drop-outs due to social inequalities.

The process of modernization and introduction of digital devices in the schools has been started and each school has at least one computer lab with internet access. However, the municipality acknowledges that the IT and communication skills and knowledge of the students still have room for improvement.

Other policies that were introduced to improve education within the municipality are:      

• School transport - free to all children
• No fees for kindergartens or nurseries: Alongside this, children who are enrolled also receive a free meal daily, encouraging families at risk of poverty to send their children to care institutions on a regular basis ^[ 10 ]     
• Educational mediators: A educational mediator’s main role is to make sure that children continue to attend school, explain unclear aspects to the child’s parents, and encourage regular attendance ^[ 11 ] . During the pandemic, and online teaching, the mediators were crucial in providing students from disadvantaged backgrounds and who had no access to technology.
• Mechanism for institutionally coordinated action: This consists of a protocol for intervention and an intersectoral task-force group which intervenes where there is a risk of drop-outs
• Policy for linking social benefits to children regular enrolment: On a national level, and also applied in Lom, social benefits for children are linked to school attendance, encouraging parents to ensure their children are regularly enrolled.
• Ecology and environment protection school club: A school activities club which is focused on environmental issues, usually run by a biology teacher
• Access to medical professionals at schools: often the only regular access to medical care for children from disadvantged backgrounds

The Plan for Integration Development of Lom envisions three measures to continue improving public services: modernization of equipment in kindergartens and schools; developing digitalisation and technologies in schools; and developing the digital skills of high-school teachers.

Economic activity in Lom is concentrated in three sectors: agriculture, forestry and fishing (32,35%), industry (33,05%), and wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food service activities (19%). Outside of the public sector, the largest employer is HUS, which manufactures pipes - the majority of the workforce is male, in low-skilled, minimum wage roles. There are no major investors in the region.

At the national level, as a result of economic growth and an improved labour market, the share of employed people between 15–64-year-olds increased from 60.7% in 2007 to 70.1% in 2019. This is the highest it has been since the 2008 economic crisis, attributable to an increase of employed people alongside a decrease of the population in this period ^[ 12 ] .

With a national employment rate of 70.1%, the lowest rate within Bulgaria is in the North-western region where Lom is located with 59.7%. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 6.9% in 2007, growing to 12.9% in 2013 and then dropping to 4.3% in 2019, showing that there was a large decrease in unemployment rates between 2013 to 2019. However, COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 resulted in a renewed increase in unemployment rates, with an increase of 30% from the number of unemployed people in 2019 (Strategy for employment 2021-2030). However, despite national decreases of unemployment overall, the North-western region has shown a steady growth of unemployment, from 11% in 2007 to 20.1% in 2019.

The economic development of Lom municipality follows the trends of the Montana district. Montana district is among the least economically developed in the country ^[ 13 ] . Since 2010, the number of major enterprises has decreased, with the majority (92%) now micro-enterprises with less than 10 employees. Only 1% of firms have more than 50 employees. This has resulted in a decrease in the number of employees with secure long-term employment.

In the Montana district, there has been a decrease in the number of employees in steady contractual employment, from 54.7% in 2008 to 48.2% in 2019. Unemployment rates are also worsening, increasing from 8.5% to 20.4% in the same period of time. Between 2010 and 2018, the number of people in steady employment decreased from 4,555 to 4,123, according to the Plan for integrated development of the municipality of Lom 2021-2027.

Nationally, the gender difference in employment rates is identified as problematic in strategic documents like the “Strategy on Gender Equality 2021-2030”. There were more men in work in 2019 than women, at 74.1% compared to 66%. Women are more likely to be hired in precarious conditions, temporary jobs, informal employment and parttime or non-standard employment. This makes them more vulnerable in the labour market and compromises their economic independence. Further, despite a gradual narrowing of the pay gap, women continue to earn less than men, which can also affect pension levels, with women receiving 26.4% less than men in 2018. Women also are less represented in managerial positions, despite having higher educational levels than working men, with only 39% of managerial positions occupied by women.

Education plays a significant role in unemployment - unskilled and unqualified people represent the largest share of unemployed. In the period between 2013-2015, this is the group where the number of long-term unemployed grew, only beginning to decrease after 2015. Overall, the total number of unemployed in this group decreased from 205,087 in 2013 to 98,440 in 2019. However, as a result of the pandemic, there was an increase in this in 2020 to 124,694.

Young people were most affected by the 2008 crisis. For the 15-29 age group, unemployment rates grew from 11% in 2007 to 20.8% in 2012. However, between 2013-2019, there was a steady decrease in unemployment for this age group, dropping to 6.9% in 2019. As with other groups, the COVID-19 pandemic affected young people as well. In 2020, the unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds grew to 14.2%, and for the 15-29 year olds to 8.8%.

Historically, Lom was an industrial centre with several larger factories that closed down after the political change in 1989. Similar to other parts of the country, de-industrialization left many un-skilled and low-skilled workers without employment, which resulted in wide-spread impoverishment. The Roma were particularly affected by these trends.

According to the new Strategy for Employment for 2021-2030, this age group tends to be hired informally or in non-standard forms of employment more often than other age groups. This means they also have restricted or no social security. Moreover, this age group tends to work more often in the economy sectors that were affected the worst during the pandemic (e.g. tourism, sports and cultural activities). As a result, young people lost their jobs at a higher rate than the other age groups ^[ 14 ] .

To improve equality between working men and women, two of the five priority areas in the new National strategy for equality between men and women 2021-2030, are in the field of employment and labour market: 1- Equality between women and men in the labour market and an equal degree of economic independence; and 2- Decreasing the gender gap in pay and income levels. The concrete steps to improve this are set out in national action plans each year.

The municipality has included in its strategic planning for 2021-2030 the development of an industrial area and for up-skilling/training of people to answer the needs of this future industrial area - including automobile and shipbuilding. However, these plans have yet to be implemented.

There are no specific local or district level policies aimed at supporting people, or young people in particular, in finding employment, activation for the labour market or providing new employment opportunities. The programmes that are currently active are state funded national level programmes developed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy through its Agency of Employment:

Programme for the qualification and employment of long-term unemployed people: The programme aims to provide temporary employment to those in long-term unemployment. Its aim is to raise people's employability by increasing their qualifications and knowledge. It works in both the private sector and public sector, but the vast majority are employed by the Municipality. The contracts last between 4 to 12 months and are predominantly low-skilled.

However, the programme is critiqued for its short-term nature and failure to provide any additional qualification or re-qualification, because the work is low-skilled. The short-term contracts – up to 12 months, do not provide secure employment or secure income. As a result, workers sometimes leave the job in the middle of the contract, if they decide to migrate for a period.

The key problem is that since there are no other job opportunities for the low-skilled in the region, this programme does not prepare them for an existing labour market. Most people simply rely on it for short-term survival.

Programme Career start: A national programme from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, which is run by the Employment Agency ^[ 15 ]  and implemented by public administration at national and local levels, this programme targets under 29s with higher education degrees and no experience within their area of specialisation. The goal of the programme is to support young people transition from school to work, and providing crucial working experience. Offering a 12 month contract, the programme also comes with the possibility of gaining a permanent position from this trial with a view to stemming the 'brain-drain' from outward migration, and ensuring local services have young talent. The employers are public administrative institutions, including municipality and district administrative services.

The new plan for integrated development of municipality of Lom 2021-2027 has drafted strategic goals for economic and social development. The first priority is to create mechanisms for economic development. This contains two measures: to create favourable business environments, and to foster entrepreneurship. It allows for around €7 million of investment in infrastructure and technology. The second priority is to ensure that the local population has the skills required by the local economy.

While the plans take into consideration the employment needs of the population, there is unclear if investors will initiate any business plans in this new industrial area, and how long this may take.

The largest share of the housing stock in Bulgaria was built between the 1970s and 1990s, of which 79.3% was built within cities. The lowest building activity was seen in villages in the North-western regions, with the share of buildings built after the 1990s in Montana being 1.9%.

At a national level, the level of available housing is above the EU average, with 550 dwellings per 1,000 inhabitants. However, if we include uninhabited dwellings, the average then falls to 377 per 1000, below the acceptable EU standard of 420 per 1000. The share of uninhabited dwellings is 31.4% on average, with 25.4% for urban areas and 42.9% for rural areas. The number of uninhabited dwellings, especially in rural areas, can be contributed to urbanisation and migration ^[16] . Despite the problems of overcrowding and lack of affordable housing in bigger cities the share of uninhabited dwellings in certain municipalities and in some rural areas is not a sufficient factor for attracting people to settle there.

There are also other serious issues. Overcrowding, unmaintained buildings, lack of proper sewerage systems, loss of water supply during transfer, and a lack of social housing. According to the 2011 census, 327,000 dwellings have two people sharing a room, and in 85,000 dwellings, 3 or more people share a room. This is a particular issue for those from marginalised communities and families of multiple generations sharing one flat ^[17] .

In terms of property, almost all (97.6%) housing is private. The share of social and municipal housing is very small - 2.4% - and there are no secured regular funds for expanding it.

Disadvantaged and marginalised groups, who live in ghetto-like settlements near larger cities, or on the outskirts of villages, face housing problems. This primarily affects the Roma population. Due to higher levels of poverty among the Roma, and a historically defined lack of housing, large shares of the Roma population live in unregulated settlements in areas with no infrastructure.

With growing poverty and inequalities, people face serious risks of social exclusion and homelessness despite the large share of housing ownership. Overcrowding and the worsening quality of the housing stock due to lack of maintenance are the priority problems that need to be addressed.

Attempts to solve housing issues include funding for social housing projects as part of a municipal budget funding. The most vulnerable groups need additional housing support in the form of social housing. Another direction is subsidizing projects for energy efficiency. Since 2015 there is a National programme for Energy efficiency of multi-familial buildings, which is governed in a decentralized manner by municipalities. This involves external insulation of buildings that are in a high energy-loss category.

The National housing strategy for 2018-2030 identifies as a serious challenge that the administrative bodies that implement housing policies on national and local levels moves slowly and with difficulty because of insufficient funding and a lack of administrative capacity ^[ 18 ] . Public institutions have no legal obligation to address housing needs, and the funds available to try to solve the issues is insufficient. Given the growing inequalities, the lack of housing subsidies and very limited growth of the social housing stock, the overall housing problems are likely to perpetute or deepen.

In the municipality of Lom, housing is not really seen as a problem. There are 14,133 housing buildings in the municipality of Lom. The number of dwellings has remained almost the same since the 2011 census, although there were more than 6000 dwellings categorized as uninhabited. This is a result of the demographic processes of decreasing population, due to ageing, migration to other cities, and international migration. In some of the villages more than 50% of dwellings are uninhabited.

In the last decade, 1-2 new residential buildings have been developed per year, reflecting the low level of demand. Despite subsidies offered by the state to improve energy efficiency of housing, there are less than 5 insulated residential buildings and some buildings are suffering structural failures. The analysis in the Plan for integrated development concludes that the cause is the bad infrastructure and lack of roads for heavy trucks, resulting in vibrations that cause cracks in the buildings.

There are 270 social houses. In the new strategic development plan, social housing is included as one of the measures, with two new buildings planned for the next period. Currently, there are two ongoing projects for building new social housing, which were part of the 2014-2020 development plan:

1. Building modern social housing for vulnerable groups. Starting date in October 2020, delivery date 2023. The project involves building 25 flats in 4 residential units to accommodate 78 vulnerable people.
2. Residential social service “Transit home for 15-18-year-old children”. The project aims to ensure “equal access to services for every child” ^[ 19 ] .

The "Transit home" service provides dwelling and support in accessing social services and gaining social skills for independent life. It is funded by the EU funding mechanism Human Resources Development as part of the “Continuing support for deinstitutionalization of children and youth, Stage 2 – social and integrated health-social services for children and families”. The aim of the project is to continue supporting the process of deinstitutionalization of care for children, who have been living in care homes for children without parents and the closing down of these institutions.

It involves creating two new social services for children and families in the municipality of Lom: a day centre for children with disabilities and their families for 30 children; and the Transit Home for children between 15 and 18 for a maximum of 8 children. The aim is to help children to acquire practical skills and competency for independent life. The Transit home will provide assistance and mutual help for social integration and social inclusion through individual and group work.

The 2008 economic crisis coincided with Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union in 2007. The new mobility regimes for EU citizens affected migration trends, while the crisis affected the labour of migrants who were already in Western Europe during this period. Migration trends before 2007 were strong but during this period of time, shorter-term circular and seasonal migration intensified. This can be seen as a coping mechanism to manage the effects of the crisis at an individual and household level.

Expert estimations assess that there are 1.3 million Bulgarians living abroad. Other sources show 900,000 Bulgarians are living within the European Union ^[ 20 ] , however this only counts Bulgarians who are registered in another EU country. Eurostat have found that the number of Bulgarian citizens who live and work abroad has doubled between 2008-2018 ^[ 21 ] . The emigration of Bulgarians is a loss of multiple capitals, but also contributes to the country’s development through significant remittances. These remittances exceed foreign direct investment, giving 1152,6 million euros ^[ 22 ] .

Return migration, triggered by the pandemic (“The Big Return”) ^[ 23 ]  lead to 400,000 people entering Bulgaria in this period. It is argued that the return migration for the district of Montana in the spring of 2020 equals 4% of the working population there. The main reasons given for returning were to be with family, and due to the loss of a job. Some of these migrants remained in Bulgaria, with 19% of those who had stayed abroad for more than a year reporting that they would not be migrating again. 41% of return migrants said that finding a job would makethem stay in Bulgaria.

In Lom, those who started working did not migrate again, when the initial wave and restrictions subsided. Those who returned are oredominantly middle-aged with longer working experience abroad, who have grown-up children, and who have already invested in renovating their houses. The perception is that they are happy to work for less money now, but to be back home.

The Roma are the most disadvantaged group in many respects. The educational level and professional qualifications of the Roma are lower than the average for the municipality. Their housing is poorer. Many of them are registered for workfare programmes and cccess to the limited employment is even more restricted for the Roma due to explicit ethnic discrimination.

Many of the Roma resort to migration to make a living which results in divided families and children left behind. When both parents work abroad, the risks of children dropping out of school are much higher. Moreover, experts also argue that leaving young people behind but sending financial remittances demotivates young people to look for any jobs in Lom, first, because they do not need the money urgently, and second, because of the parents’ example of migration as a solution.

Mass migration, at both a national and local level, is largely unaddressed at a policy level. There are no concrete proposals or policies to handle these problems.

Migration towards other cities and abroad is considered as one of the largest issues regarding population growth. The migration of young people who just graduated from high school is a problem for municipalities where most specialists such as engineers, doctors and teachers are reaching retirement age.

Migration from the North-western region is considered higher than the rest of the country due to the harsher economic conditions. However, migrating to the capital and other large cities is often the only way for people to make a living. Migration is often short-term, seasonal or circular, and does not result in long-term security and investments.

The main measures tackling inequalities, particularly in the Roma community, are focused on early education: encouraging families to enrol their children in kindergartens, making sure that schools are accessible through subsidized transport, and ensuring free warm meals. The social assistance of educational and health mediators additionally assists Roma children in remaining in school.

No local policies exist to assist caring for the children left behind when parents migrate, nor for encouraging return migration.