Transforming Post-Communist Political Economies (1998) / Chapter Skim
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11 Social Policy Challenges and Dilemmas in Ex-Socialist Systems
11 Social Policy Challenges and Dilemmas in Ex-Socialist Systems
Pages 299-321
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From page 299... ...
However, it should be recognized that there is also a neoliberal agenda that, in its extreme form, would like to put an end to the welfare state that evolved in Western Europe in the twentieth century (e.g., Marsland, 1996~. A milder and more widespread variant of this agenda continues to emphasize the role of the individual, accepting the state's responsibility only with regard to care for the destitute.
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From page 300... ...
Civil society's increasing resistance to attempts to scale back the welfare state as indicated by demonstrations in several Western European countries
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From page 301... ...
'Freedom and the conditions of freedom' are the mirror image of 'democracy and development"' (European Commission, 1996:5~. There are, of course, additional reasons for welfare reform in the formerly state socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
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From page 302... ...
While these pressures are very different from the political dictates of the former Soviet Union, which operated through duress and command, they preclude genuine national independence. Although less direct and less threatening, the new pressures coming from multinational organizations and supranational agencies also require compliance with rules and institutions that may be at odds with more organic trends in these countries, as well as with popular expectations, preferences, and values.
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From page 303... ...
This section examines, if only briefly the following issues: · The possible long-term consequences of the current mismatch between needs and resources · The possible impact of nation building based on full citizenship, if and when the social is individualized · Increased investment in human resources as the best means to ensure individual and collective "salvation," and the probability of this course of action · The controversial issue of existential security: democracy? a test case for The Possible Long-Term Consequences of the Current Mismatch Between Needs and Resources Needs are clearly escalating.
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From page 304... ...
More radical measures to lower family benefits, pensions, and sick pay have been initiated since 1993, and the results are already visible, both in terms of diminishing the proportion of social transfers relative to overall GDP and their real value (see Table 11-1 for Hungary)
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From page 305... ...
There is also a general lack of administrative capacity and know-how: social policy and social work became acknowledged disciplines only after the transition; budget cuts have hit local authorities hard, and they are unable to engage enough qualified people to administer complex assistance schemes. This has meant the emergence of extremely debatable solutions, such as contracting out home visits.
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From page 306... ...
In countries with a large deprived minority, such as the Romanis in Hungary or Slovakia, exclusion is already well advanced, strengthening racial prejudices. The Possible Impact of Nation Building Based on Full Citizenship, If and When the Social Is Individualized One objective of the European welfare states was to forge a more integrated society, to induce a general sense of belonging based on full citizenship, and to recognize the equal dignity of all.
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From page 307... ...
In the Central and Eastern European countries, however, changes in family benefit schemes and pension reforms (both those that have been adopted and those still under consideration) tend to undermine the intergenerational contract.
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From page 308... ...
Many different means are being used to bring home to people the message that the intergenerational contract should be abolished. The potential for conflict between the old and the young was noted by the demographer Samuel Preston over a decade ago when he suggested that "the social security system was becoming increasingly generous to the elderly while adopting a more severe attitude towards .
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From page 309... ...
A second disturbing aspect of this argument is that it has returned 10 years later, in the debate in the transition countries. Commenting on the poverty of children in Central and Eastern Europe, a World Bank expert declared: "I tell people in Eastern Europe that their pension policy is impoverishing their children.
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From page 310... ...
Increased Investment in Human Resources as a Means of Individual and Collective "Salvation" It is widely recognized that the educational legacy of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe is largely positive. They had well-developed preschool networks and nearly universal and relatively good-quality basic educational institutions, and their students exhibited high levels of achievement in many fields.
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From page 311... ...
· Scarce resources and the decentralization of financing have made it difficult to maintain the existing stock of educational institutions, and have rendered new investments or the expansion of the existing infrastructure practically impossible.
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From page 312... ...
The increasing need for the money these children can earn the opportunity cost to parents of keeping their children in school will only aggravate this problem. · The introduction of fees in higher education, combined with price increases for all school-related equipment and facilities, will most probably increase the already existing inequalities in access.
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From page 313... ...
These new institutions, collectively called social security, developed to a rather high level in the West European welfare states. They also made important headway in the totalitarian state socialist systems of the post-communist states, which started to implement these systems early in the twentieth century.
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From page 314... ...
When the difference between the importance attached to freedoms and to securities is calculated for each individual, it turns out that security is never treated lightly: it is of utmost importance even to those who value freedom above all. It also appears that the high value attached to existential security is not confined to Central and Eastern Europe; it is pervasive throughout Europe.
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From page 315... ...
It should be added that at the beginning of the transition, Atkinson (1991) suggested that a basic income scheme in the Central and Eastern European countries would help overcome the major difficulties of social dislocation, prevent the worst forms of poverty, and facilitate smallscale entrepreneurship.
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From page 317... ...
The foreseeable if not necessary or inevitable consequences in the transition countries, where there is already a tremen TABLE 11-4 Preferences on Taxes and State Spending: England and Hungary Preference 1983 1994 Hungary 1996 Decrease taxes and spend less on health, education, and social security 9 4 16 Keep taxes and spending at current levels 57 35 56 Increase taxes and spend more on health, education, and social security 34 61 28 NOTE: Figures shown are the percentage of valid answers. SOURCES: For England, Taylor-Gooby (1995a)
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From page 318... ...
CONCLUSION Social policy reform is badly needed in Central and Eastern Europe and the New Independent States, not only to ensure the relative independence of the market, but also to safeguard democracy, genuine citizens' rights, state accountability, transparency, and adequate welfare arrangements. If the current level of resources does not permit the state to provide adequately for all needs, it is still possible for it to build a consensus in favor of short-term stringency measures.
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From page 319... ...
International Report on the Social Consequences of the Transition, a survey carried out as part of the SOCO project initiated and coordinated by the Institute for Human Studies, Vienna. Cross-national report on five countries, prepared by Zsuzsa Ferge, Endre Sik, Peter Robert, Fruzsina Albert, Institute for Human Studies, Vienna.
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From page 320... ...
1994 Social integration or anomie? The welfare state challenged by individualism.
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From page 321... ...
In Welfare States in Transition. National Adaptations in Global Econo mies, G
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