The regular survey of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria about the means of livelihood and the poverty line, a household member needs 286.73 euro a month to provide for his or her basic needs. Figures are alarming because incomes of Bulgarians have been frozen in the course of 6 years and cannot compensate for rising prices of goods and services. This has caused a decline in household consumption by 2.6% Close to 2.5 million Bulgarians live below the poverty line calculated at 150.83 euro per month, and half of Bulgarians live with incomes somewhere between absolute poverty and 286.73 euro. Only 1.4 million live with higher incomes but these are neither rich nor poor.