PUBLIC EXPANDITURE IN THE LIGHT OF THE ONGOING CHANGES IN THE EUROPEAN LABOUR MARKET
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | ECONOMIC POLICY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER COUNTRIES. Proceedings of the 13th International Scientific Conference. |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Economy |
| Keywords | welfare state; public expenditures; labour market; population aging; social reform |
| Description | During the second half of the 20th century there have been significant changes in the structure and concept of the welfare state in Europe, mainly due to the changes in labour market and demographic changes. This was accompanied by a multiple increase in public expenditure in the social sector and the welfare state has found itself in a crisis since the 90s of the last century. Given the fiscal unsustainability of the current social systems, measures and reforms addressing the fiscal crisis of the welfare state are being introduced. The European Union introduces some measures at the central level; however, the social systems of individual countries are unique and historically grounded. The current keynote is to narrow down the role of the state to the provider of basic social protection and encourage the citizens towards more responsible behaviour. The aim of this paper is to assess the current social expenditure of the EU member countries in the light of the ongoing changes in the labour market and identify the fiscal trend, including the assessment of social expenditure in selected countries. The paper is mainly centred around the opinions of leading European experts on welfare states, EU strategic documents and Eurostat and OECD statistics |