Migrants’ access to social protection in Lithuania

This chapter aims to discuss the link between migration and welfare in Lithuania. We start with presentation of the main characteristics of the Lithuanian welfare system emphasizing the access to social benefits for resident nationals, non-national residents, and non-resident nationals. Later we examine key developments of population migration to and from Lithuania. Finally, we present a detailed analysis of five social policy schemes - unemployment, health care, family benefits, pensions, and guaranteed minimum resources – from the perspective of access to social benefits of these different groups

Subjective Well-Being in EU Countries in the Context of Economic Development and Social Policy

The article examines subjective well-being in EU countries in the context of economic development and social policy. The analysis carried out in the article is based upon the assumption from previous studies that the economic dimension is one of the most important factors influencing subjective well-being. The analysis revealed that subjective well-being in EU countries is more dependent on the level of economic development of the country measured by average income than on the orientation of national social policy measured by total social benefits as a percentage of GDP. Based on homeostatic theory of subjective well-being, income should be regarded as an external factor enabling members of society faced with social risks to maintain subjective well-being within the normative limits. Therefore, in the EU countries where the average income is higher, people have a better ability to sustain a higher level of subjective well-being than in the countries where the average income is lower. The findings of the article partially correspond to Marx's labour theory of value asserting that the owner of labour needs to get the equivalent corresponding to his or her value of labour including the amount required for satisfaction of needs in case the owner is faced with social risks. Thus, it is not that important in terms of subjective well-being whether, in case of social risks, the value of labour is ensured by the State or a market mechanism

Local state-society relations in Lithuania

Knygos https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44794-6The chapter on Lithuania focuses on the different types of networks of local state-society relations on the municipal level, including the councils of non-governmental organizations (NGO councils), the youth councils, the tripartite councils, the councils of culture and arts, and the boards of local action groups. The analysis identifies the dominance of ‘self-reflective’ local state-society networks in Lithuania. These networks refer to highly regulated provisions, strictly organized membership and statutory rules, and limited social and economic impact at the local level. Contrary, the ‘consociational’ (boards of local action groups) and ‘collaborative’ (tripartite councils) types of networks are considered as an exception and represent a different role in local developmentSociologijos katedraViešojo administravimo katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta