Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and Georgians were asked to estimate what percentage of their income is used for food and utilities.

Overall, people in the Caucasus aren’t spending a lot on utilities.

Food, on the other hand, uses up quite a bit of a family’s income.

In all three countries, about half of all families spend more than 50% of their take home on food expenses.

As a comparison, Americans spend 5-6% of their income on food and Russians spend about 20% of their income on food.

With the high level of poverty, it is not surprising that many Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and Georgians borrow money to buy food.

In Armenia, the number of households that have to borrow money regularly has grown from 13% in 2007 to 31% in 2010. Nearly a third of all Armenian families borrow money MONTHLY to buy food. (And the percent of families that do not have to borrow money for food has remained constant.)

In Azerbaijan, things have remained relatively constant as well. Not very many families have to borrow money regularly, but about a quarter have to borrow occasionally. This raises concern about the overall poverty situation. Do Azerbaijani families have more trouble at particular times of the year? Are there times when a lot of money comes in or perhaps are they less inclined to have to borrow in the summer months when they can grow their own?

In Georgia, only about a third of households never borrow money for food and the percentages have remained stable over the four years, more or less. Like in Armenia, there are a large number of families that borrow monthly (about 20%) and like in Azerbaijan, there are a large number of families that have to borrow now-and-then (almost 30%).