Human capital and life quality
Jobs and salary
The sustainable and continuous economic growth achieved in the Republic became the most important precondition for the reduction of the unemployment level and growth of population’s income. Since 2000, there had been some decline in the official unemployment rate of the country. In Armenia, the number of hired employees in 1998 was 539,800, while in ten years it increased by 146,800 and reached 686,600 in 2008.
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As to the level of salaries, after already one year since the President was holding the office, the minimum salary increased 5-fold as compared to 1998, 13-fold in 2004, and 20-fold in 2007. The average monthly nominal salary in 2004 increased about 2 times and reached 43,445 AMD, while in 2007 it increased by 4 times. In the field of general education, prioritizing the increase in salaries of teachers, the state had consistently implemented the policy of raising salaries in this field as well, considering it as a guarantee for improving the quality of education. In particular, the teacher’s average monthly salary was increased by 65.3% in 2005, by 16.1% in 2006, by 27.0% in 2007, reaching about 74,000 AMD, thus bringing the teacher’s annual salary closer to the annual GDP per capita.
In ten years, the average nominal salary in the country increased almost 6-fold, while, over the same period, the prices of basic food products practically remained the same, and in some cases they even decreased. This dynamics of progressive growth of salaries in relation to prices manifests the improvement of the population’s welfare.
Poverty and incomes
In December 1988, after the devastating earthquake, Armenia faced the first wave of deepening and wide-spread poverty. It was followed by the four-year Karabakh War which caused enormous damage to Armenia, to the economy and to the social condition of its population, which had already been affected by the earthquake. The deep systemic socio-economic crisis of the country on the one hand, the unprecedented polarization of the population in terms of income and consumption on the other hand resulted in a situation where 54.7% of the Armenian population in 1994-1996 became poor, of which 27.7% were extremely poor, and the minimum amount of salary provided by law was only 1,000 AMD. Taking over the leadership of the country in such conditions, Robert Kocharyan initiated a number of measures aimed at reducing poverty in the country, ensuring equal distribution of incomes among the population and social justice. The efforts were productive and by 2001 the poverty rate in the country started to decline. In 2005, it was 29.8%, while the extreme poverty was reduced 5-fold as compared to 1999 and made 4.6%. In 2007, the country’s poverty rate was 25% and extreme poverty rate was 3.8%. In other words, the people's quality of life was changing for the better.
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It is especially noteworthy that the salaries and pensions were increased for the first time in the history of the independent Armenia. Thus, pensioners, teachers, government employees felt the results of this positive change. Certainly, this was not enough to ensure the citizens’ complete welfare but was a good start to enroot among population the principle of equal distribution of income. People started to live better, consume more, travel frequently and rest. Several expert assessments indicate that in 2003-2007, more than 60% of families in RA began to live more comfortably, started their own business, were engaged in trade or cattle breeding and agriculture, their family members got jobs, purchased real estate or improved their living conditions.
Migration
In 1998-2007, the migration processes in the Republic of Armenia went through significant quantitative and qualitative changes. If in 1998-2002 the emigration range was still the same as that of the previous years, and the annual average difference between those leaving Armenia and those coming to Armenia was about 55 thousand people (a negative balance), in 2002-2003, with a steady increase in passenger traffic, it sharply decreased to 3-10 thousand; while since 2004, positive migration balance was recorded annually, and the number of people arriving to Armenia was by 22 thousands more than the number of those leaving Armenia. Migration balance in Armenia was positive for the first time since 1992 and lasted only for three years — from 2004 to 2006. In 2005-2007, active efforts were made to create conditions that would encourage the return of RA citizens from foreign countries. The effectiveness of these programs was confirmed by further developments in the migration field.
Education and science
From 1998 to 2007, many reforms were implemented to modernize secondary education, as well as to improve its quality, increase accessibility, decentralize governance, and raise the efficiency. Within the framework of the “Education Financing and Management Reforms” project, launched in 1998, it became possible once for all to solve the most important task of providing students with textbooks. Most of the funds provided by the state budget to the field of education were allocated to general education, as it was the main priority. The Law “On Education”, adopted in 1999, integrated the state policy and principles for higher professional and postgraduate professional education, as well as state guarantees of the right to education, state educational standards, general requirements for content, university autonomy, etc.
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In 2005, in the Norwegian city of Bergen, Armenia signed the Bergen Declaration, joining the Bologna Process, which aimed to integrate the professional education system of Armenia into the Common European Space of higher education.
In June 2006, the Procedure for granting student allowances and state scholarships in state universities of the Republic of Armenia was approved, and in September of the same year, for the first time ever, the idea of competitive learning was applied in state universities of Armenia, which implied rotation of students, based on the academic results, from a paid system of education to a free one and vice versa.
Since 1998, in the field of science of Armenia, the primary task had been the regulation of the legislative and regulatory framework. In December 2000, the RA Law "On Scientific and Technological Activities" was adopted. In April 2001, the Armenian Government approved the "Concept on Development of Science in the Republic of Armenia", which outlined the development direction in the sphere. In 2002, the Government adopted the Decision "On the Approval of Science and Technology Development Priorities in the Republic of Armenia".
In 2004, targeted field financing was launched, thanks to which state scientific and technological programs were implemented.
As the scientists were given a chance to free creativity, individual scientists and scientific organizations managed to enter the international scientific market. Only in 2003, about $8.5 million was invested by various international and foreign organizations into the scientific sphere. In 2006-2007, in the Government of the Republic of Armenia developed and approved the concept on scientific reforms in Armenia, the main goal of which was to establish knowledge-based economy and society.
