The online survey “Survey on Pensions!” (20 August 2014, a convenience sample of 357 participants) shows a strongly negative attitude toward the announcement of pension cuts: as many as 79.55% of respondents say they do not support the cuts, while support exists only in the variants “up to 20%/15%/10%/5%,” totalling 16.52% (with 3.92% having no opinion). Even when the question is posed hypothetically—“if cuts must happen”—the dominant response remains resistance: 55.74% say they are against any reduction, and among those who nevertheless consider a model, the largest share prefer proportional cuts (40.06%), meaning higher pensions should bear a larger percentage of reductions. An equal cut for everyone is supported by only 4.20%.
The findings also suggest a high level of potential political and civic reaction. If the decision is adopted, the most frequently announced form of resistance is signing a petition (23.12%), followed by boycotting parties that support the cuts (18.74%), while 15.41% say they would join a protest (4.90% would even initiate a protest). At the same time, a significant share express defeatism: 17.34% say they would do nothing because “whatever I do will have no effect.” A smaller but socially important signal is the 5.43% who say they would “stop paying obligations to the state,” indicating a risk of spreading tax non-compliance and institutional illegitimacy.
Attitudes toward PUPS are particularly indicative. Respondents largely do not rate the behaviour of PUPS officials regarding the announced pension cuts (42.58% “no opinion”), but among those who do, a negative tone dominates: 45.10% rate it as negative/very negative, with only 2.52% positive ratings. Asked whether PUPS should leave the Government if pension cuts occur, the majority respond decisively: 56.58% say “yes, in any case,” while 10.08% choose “no” (21.85% have no opinion).
The data also show how important pensions are for respondents’ household budgets: in 20.17% of households, pensions make up 100% of income, and in an additional 7.28% they account for 70–99%. At the same time, a third (32.77%) report that pensions do not contribute to their household budget at all, suggesting a mixed sample—not only pensioners, but also younger and working-age participants.
Regionally, the sample is mostly from Belgrade (33.05%) and Vojvodina (32.49%). By status, the most represented groups are students (19.05%), pensioners (17.37%), those unemployed for more than six months (17.09%), and those employed in the private and public sectors (around 16–17%). The median age is 37. In the May 2014 elections, 28.78% say they stayed at home, 14.53% invalidated their ballot, while 17.44% voted for the “Aleksandar Vučić…” list and 6.40% for the “Ivica Dačić…” list (SPS–PUPS–JS).
Methodological note: this was an online survey; the results reflect the views of survey participants and do not necessarily represent the overall electorate or the population.