Podgorica (MINA-BUSINESS) - Only around 1.6 percent of Montenegrin households are poverty-stricken because they receive both poverty and child benefits from the state, the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts (ISSP) said in its Household Survey. The research was conducted between May and September 2001 among 7,500 persons in around 2,000 households. Around 36 percent of the polled households said they were receiving child benefits and 1.3 percent was getting poverty benefits from the state. Average net salary in Montenegro last September stood at 175.5 euros, with average salaries in central part of Montenegro at 180 euros and 146 euros in the northern part of the country. The majority of the polled were employed in the services sector, trade and manufacturing. The unemployment rate in Montenegro fell between May and September last year from 24.2 to 24.1 percent and was 50 percent lower than the figures shown by the official statistics. The lower number resulted from higher employment rate during the summer season. Personal income of individuals working in the black economy sector was 10.5 percent higher than of those employed legally. The survey also showed that around 23.9 percent of polled employers and 71 percent of polled self-employed persons had not paid their taxes for the last year.