Anti-poverty measures urgent says Economic and Social Council

In a special statement adopted in May 2009, the Economic and Social Council (ESC) presented its position on strategic problems and the urgent need for measures to tackle poverty and social exclusion. The measures are considered particularly critical due to the impact of the economic crisis on people facing poverty. Such measures are also timely in light of the preparations for the European Year against Poverty and Social Exclusion in 2010.

Report on tackling poverty

On 25 September 2008, the Bulgarian government adopted the National report on strategies for social protection and social inclusion 2008–2010. The report identifies the possibilities for tackling poverty from two angles – through economic growth and more jobs. However, it does not reflect the diversity of the proposed comments and assessments for ensuring that lasting results are achieved. Given that the report presents Bulgarian policies in the framework of the open method of coordination, the country’s Economic and Social Council (ESC) considered it necessary to express its opinion on the report’s strategies and to propose measures taking into account the present economic situation in the country.

Impact of economic crisis

The impact of the global economic crisis and signs that the country has entered into a recession make it more urgent to renew the main aims and priorities of the national report and to address the timing of the proposed measures and activities. It has been highlighted that in the period up to 2010, Bulgaria will be unable to change its ranking as the poorest EU Member State owing to the current economic situation. Instead, unemployment is set to increase, resulting in a rise in the number of poor people as well as those at risk of poverty. According to the ESC, the assessment indicators and methods used to tackle poverty are insufficient to provide an accurate representation of poverty and social exclusion realities.

ESC recommendations

Against this background, the ESC has issued the following recommendations:

• developing an ‘urgent poverty package’ with the aim of establishing priorities in governmental policies for the next two years – the measures should rely on social justice and human investment, in accordance with the proposals laid out in the recovery package of the EU;

• revising the existing financial accounting reports and tax system in order to achieve financial compliance with social protection and social security systems;

• encouraging the participation of target/risk assessment representatives in the elaboration of political decisions on the social impact assessment method and other mechanisms;

• monitoring the impact of the educational and healthcare systems, as well as the so-called ‘services of common interests’, on poverty and social exclusion;

• supporting the key sectors and areas of the economy in order to achieve both direct and indirect impacts on poverty and social exclusion – for example, in relation to the services of common interests and agriculture;

• changing the structural funds system and making more effective use of EU funds in order to prioritise poverty and social exclusion issues;

• supporting the development of social enterprises that provide employment services and other types of support to vulnerable groups in the labour market to help them overcome social exclusion – their development should be funded by national active labour market programmes or by European funds;

• reconsidering certain tax system mechanisms with the aim of achieving greater equity in taxation as regards movable and immovable property, such as cars and houses;

• paying attention to the specific requirements of representatives of vulnerable groups in the labour market in order to achieve greater social cohesion and to help eliminate the factors leading to social exclusion;

• implementing a more integrated approach as part of a long-term strategy for combating poverty and social exclusion.

Focus on child poverty

A special emphasis is placed on the issue of child poverty in both the national report and the ESC statement. However, the approach recommended varies in each case. For example, in the national report, the fight against child poverty is highlighted as a major political aim. According to the ESC, however, developing a specific approach to combating child poverty is difficult to realise on its own. The best way to reduce intergenerational poverty is to focus on combating the parents’ poverty and other measures should reinforce this main policy approach. The national report on strategies highlights the limited access of poor people to education and healthcare. The ESC statement, on the other hand, also argues that the ongoing problems in the functioning of education and healthcare systems are themselves a generator of future poverty. Instead of solving the problem, they can reinforce the risk of poverty among future generations.

Lyuben Tomev, Institute for Social and Trade Union Research (ISTUR)