Introduction: social protection in the Western Balkans

Will Bartlett and Milica Uvalić

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This introductory essay situates the papers in this Thematic Section within the background of social policy development in the Western Balkans during the long period of transition following the break-up of former Yugoslavia. We identify three stages of transformation of social protection policies. The first, in the 1990s, was characterised by a continuation of the Yugoslav legacy of social insurance, while many work-based benefits were lost during privatisation. In the second stage, international institutions promoted individualised social protection policies, taken up in some countries but avoided in others. In the third phase, EU influence on social policies accompanied the prolonged EU accession process, with an emphasis on the introduction of work-care policies, early childhood education and the remediation of in-work poverty. The four papers address these issues in greater detail and provide a basis for re-evaluating progress with social protection policies in the Western Balkans in the future.

Keywords: social expenditure; social protection; Western Balkans (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 5 pages
Date: 2022-09-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ger and nep-tra
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Published in Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 15, September, 2022, 38(2), pp. 130 - 134. ISSN: 2169-9763

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