Demography, fewer and fewer children being born, population decline, aging society, migration, crisis; when we talk about demography in the European Union today, these are the primary factors we think about. We hear it a lot, but how big is the real “crisis”?
For states and state economies to function properly in face of ageing European societies, it is crucial to develop a social system and an economic structure that can keep pace with – or even positively influence – demographic trends. Emigration, brain drain, depopulation, labor shortages, or ageing are all effects to which the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) must find appropriate responses.
We are pleased to present the eighteenth issue of 4liberty.eu Review, titled “Reinventing Family Policies in CEE?”. This time, our primary focus is on social and family policies in the region, their shortcomings, and much needed reforms.
Despite a rather grim picture, we remain hopeful that decision-makers will take notice of available solutions and good practices, and implement policies that are much more inclusive, facts based, and accessible – to ensure that the future of the family in the region becomes bright.
The functioning of all public services depends on it; hence completely different infrastructures are needed for a hundred people and 500 million people. Meanwhile, the fundamental demands of young people and the elderly differ.
The Bulgarian population pyramid has essentially flipped since the beginning of the transition in the 1990s – back then the share of children (aged 15 and below) was 21% and the share of pensioners (65 and up) was 14%.
At the moment, according to statistics, one woman is killed every week in Hungary because she tried to leave an abusive relationship.
EU countries are trying desperately to incentivize people to boost the population –to little avail. This phenomenon, in turn, leads to an aging population, which increasingly burdens social systems.
The Ukrainian government has introduced a range of policies aimed at supporting families and promoting the well-being of children, including measures to increase access to healthcare, education, and childcare, as well as support for maternity and paternity leave.
The Czech Republic is one of the Eastern European economies that, despite its socialist past, is catching up economically with Western Europe[1]. However, in addition to the increase in social welfare and overall national income, this process is naturally associated with a form of income and wealth inequality which is perfectly natural in modern market economies.
