Family allowances

This paper summarizes key aspects of family allowances programs across the world and presents information on their characteristics in a cross-country comparative context. Family allowances can be universal (paid to all resident families with a specified number of children) or employment-based (whereby workers receive additional pay depending on the size/composition of their family). Their characteristics include eligibility conditions, source of funds, benefit levels, and administration. These characteristics differ not only across economies but also over time in the same country as governments strive to tune unemployment policies to macroeconomic and labor conditions.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Youth and Governance,Gender and Law,Street Children,Population&Development

Fiscal federalism in Switzerland : relevant issues for transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe

Its highly fragmented structure of local governments and serious horizontal fiscal imbalances make Switzerland a surprisingly powerful model for Eastern European countries that are currently facing the challenge of fiscal decentralization. In spite of the substantial differences in the tradition and current practice of intergovernmental fiscal relations, transition economies may learn valuable lessons from the Swiss case in the fields of direct democracy, horizontal cooperation, expenditure and revenue assignment, and fiscal discipline. Among other conclusions, the authors suggest that subnational authorities can effectively fend off recentralization attempts of the central government if they engage in spontaneous cooperation to enhance the efficiency of public service provision. Together with an adequate fiscal equalization scheme, interjurisdictional cooperation also permits the reconciliation of the objective of an increasing devolution of powers with the existing regional disparities. The authors also show that the principle of subsidiarity can best be safeguarded by anchoring the expenditure and revenue powers of subnational governments in the constitution or in a similarly strong law. With regard to fiscal discipline, the combination of a"golden rule"with direct democratic instruments of budget control is proven to be successful in enhancing the accountability of local politicians toward their constituencies.

Social Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: the emergence of a new European Model of solidarity?

The successful completion of political, institutional and social transformation, which accompanies the new democracies of East Central Europe, urgently requires the establishment and consolidation of new forms of social security, called to ensure the sustainability and durability of reforms. By explaining the path of extrication from state socialism, this study aims to: a) compare different social policy theories and to elaborate new ones; b) identify the patterns of the welfare state's transformation in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia, at the national and EU level; c) investigate the attitudes towards social inequality in the European region; and d) explore the impact of social transfers in seven Central and Eastern European countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia). This research also aims to highlight the factors responsible for institutional change and democratic consolidation and to identify the prospects for the successful implementation of future welfare state reforms. This investigation identifies the emergence of a peculiar Eastern European model of solidarity coming from the fusion of pre-communist (Bismarck social insurance), communist (universalism, corporatism and egalitarianism) and post-communist features (market-based schemes), and maintained together by a strong support for redistributive policies. Finally, this book examines the challenges that modern welfare states are facing, such as the acceptance of a new welfare consensus, globalization and the Europeanization of national social policies. It concludes by reflecting on how Eastern welfare states will fit in the future EU welfare regime

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of People With Disabilities: Report of a European Conference

[From Overview] The European Conference on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities was held in Warsaw, Poland, on 23-25 October 2003. The Conference was organized jointly by the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy of the Republic of Poland and the International Labour Organization’s Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in Geneva and Subregional Office in Budapest, in cooperation with the Central European Initiative. The overall purpose of the European Conference was to review the progress of legislation and practice over the past ten years in the field of vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities and the improvement of their labour market situation, particularly in countries in the process of transition; to discuss issues connected with the adjustment to European Union standards of legislation on the vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with disabilities; and to develop recommendations that would provide guidelines for activities and instruments aimed at promoting the vocational activity of persons with disabilities and supporting their employment

Cancer and in general long-term ilnesses at workplaces

Studio commissionato dal Comitato Occupazione e Affari sociali del Parlamento europe

Voluntary health insurance and health system performance in the European Union

This thesis examines the usefulness of voluntary health insurance (VHI) as a lever for improving health system performance. It posits that VHI may further health policy goals if it addresses gaps in statutory coverage, if it does not make those who rely on statutory coverage worse off, and if those who need VHI have access to it. The thesis presents four studies that analyse markets for VHI in the European Union; developments in public policy towards VHI, including the implications of the EUlevel regulatory framework for VHI; the impact of VHI on health system performance; the effects of allowing people to choose between statutory and voluntary health insurance; and VHI’s influence on consumer mobility where insurers compete to offer statutory benefits. The thesis finds that while VHI is critical to financial protection in some countries, it does not always address key gaps in statutory coverage or reach those who need it, and the depth of its coverage has declined over time, even in heavily regulated markets. VHI has a regressive effect on equity in health financing, lowers equity in the use of health services and does not seem to have a positive effect on efficiency, partly because insurers in many countries lack appropriate incentives. What is more, a failure to align incentives across VHI and statutory health insurance can undermine the efficiency of public spending on health. Many of VHI’s negative effects can be attributed to poor policy design. Policy makers can try and ensure VHI contributes to rather than undermines health system performance through the following mechanisms: better understanding of VHI’s interaction with the health system; stronger policy design, focusing on aligning incentives in pursuit of health policy goals and ensuring efficiency in the use of public resources; willingness and capacity to regulate the market to secure financial and consumer protection; and regular monitoring and evaluation

Central Europe in transition: emerging models of welfare and social assistance

This paper discusses the emergence of a new model of welfare and social assistance in Central and Eastern Europe. It starts by briefly summarizing the most recent social policy developments occurring in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia and continues investigating the most urgent reform challenges and adaptational strategies. As argued elsewhere (see Cerami 2006a), the main argument of the paper is that CEECs are moving towards a new world of welfare capitalism, which combines old with new social policy characteristics. A special emphasis in this paper is, however, given to the systems of social assistance, since these represent the last public policy instrument to prevent citizens to fall into extreme poverty. As it will be argued, social assistance schemes did not only play a crucial role in the process of democratic transition cushioning the negative effects of the economic transformation, but they also represent important sources of democratic engineering providing legitimacy to the newly established market-oriented order. A substantial reconsideration in the social policy logic behind their establishment is, however, urgently required

Social Security Programs Throughout the World: Europe, 2002

[Excerpt] This edition of Social Security Programs Throughout the World marks a significant break with previous editions. It now comprises four separate volumes—Europe, Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and the Americas—that will be published on a rolling basis between September 2002 and March 2004. The combined findings of this report highlight the principal features of social security programs throughout the world. This guide serves as an overview of programs in all four regions. A few political jurisdictions have been excluded because they have no social security system or have issued no information regarding their social security legislation. In this volume on Europe, the data reported are based on laws and regulations in force at the beginning of 2002 or on the last date for which information has been received.1 Information for each country on types of social security programs, types of mandatory systems for retirement income, contribution rates, and demographic and other statistics related to social security is shown in Tables 1-4 begining on page 16

Social Security Programs Throughout the World: Europe, 2004

[Excerpt] This issue begins the second four-volume series of Social Security Programs Throughout the World. In this new format, each volume focuses on a specific region of the world: Europe, Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and the Americas. The volumes are published at 6-month intervals over a 2-year period

Adapting Fiscal Decentralization Design to Combat Climate Change

There are still many countries around the world that have not effectively engaged their subnational governments in their climate change strategies and policy frameworks. Where subnational levels are involved, generally they still play a relatively small role. This paper examines how the principles of fiscal decentralization design (in expenditure and revenue assignments, transfers, and borrowing) can be adapted for successfully engaging subnational governments in fighting climate change. In addition, the paper critically reviews already ongoing promising and unhelpful international practices engaging those subnational governments in climate-change mitigation. Shared responsibility for policy and program design and implementation, fee- or charge-funded adaptation activities, objective-targeted intergovernmental transfers, and the use of green bonds are some of the most promising approaches analyzed. Clearly, there is ample space ahead for the further involvement of subnational governments across the world in combating climate change