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Unemployment insurance should serve as a financial cushion when someone unexpectedly loses their job, rather than as a system that encourages people to remain outside the labor market at others’ expense. Yet, Lithuania spends around five times more of its GDP on unemployment-related benefits than Poland, while its unemployment rate is more than twice as high. Poland’s experience shows how much labor-market rules and incentives can matter.

The new agreement of Lithuania’s governing coalition includes a commitment that “people who work must not be worse off than those who do not”. According to experts at the LFMI, this principle is particularly relevant when assessing the unemployment insurance system. Yet in Lithuania, unemployment can still be more financially rewarding than work, especially in lower-skilled and lower-paid jobs.

The Czech government presented its 2027 state budget draft with deficit of CZK 389 billion while highlighting a figure of 2.8% of GDP and comparing it favorably with deficits elsewhere in the EU. Yet, these figures describe different concepts.

The Czech pension system faces significant demographic pressure in the coming decades. The number of people of retirement age will rise, whilst the number of those funding the system will fall. Even following recent reforms, long-term projections therefore do not foresee the pension system achieving a balanced budget.

t the end of 2025, Czech public debt stood at 44.25 % GDP, whilst as a ratio to GNI it reached 46.37 % and, relative to gross national disposable income (GNDI), as high as 46.63 %. The difference is not large enough to fundamentally alter the assessment of Czech public finances, but it does show that the debt-to-GDP ratio alone may not capture all the relevant characteristics of the economy.