Social Protection in Ukraine

Oleksandra Churkina,
Social Policy Officer (UNICEF Ukraine)
 Change in Ukraine’s Social ‘Model’

Soviet social protection Privatisation, economic Radical reforms: European

system reforms
until 1991
• Restrictions in
population’s income.
• Public ownership of the
means of production.
• Full employment.
• Social protection
system covering
everyone.
• Maximum social
security coverage with
the aim to maintain
the average level of
social security.
integration, reform of the
public management
system
1991-2014 since 2014
• Privatisation and • Reduction of
deregulation. privileges and social
benefits.
• Reform of the labour
market. • Tightening of tariff
policy.
• Rise in
unemployment. • Liberal reforms of
social and labour
• Privileges to different relations.
social groups and
separate groups of • Reduction of all
workers. social expenditures.
• Social support as a
tool to alleviate the • Many-fold rise in
results of the reforms subsidy payments.
and to buy votes at • Liberalisation and
elections.
“dirigible
destitution”
 Types of Social Protection

Social Protection

Social Social
Insurance Assistance Social Services
Envisages cash Does not envisage
(since 2001)
contributions. cash contributions.

Social Benefits Privileges

The social services delivery system is a constituent part of the general system
of social protection and social security, which rests on constitutional rights of
people. The social services system is comparatively new and moderate in size in
comparison with other elements of the social protection and security system
(for example, the pension system, the social benefits system, the social
insurance system, and so on).
The Endless Cycle of Poverty

Social benefits to
combat poverty

Poverty of Additional budgetary

population expenditures

Inflation Budget deficit.

Additional currency
issue.
 Privileges and Benefits

Privileges Benefits

120 types 60 types

Beneficiaries

130 categories

50
70
by professional
by social attribute
attribute
[Report of the Working Group on Employment, Labour Rights, Healthy and Safe Working Conditions, and
Social Policy under the Ukraine-EU Civil Society Platform “What Has Ukraine Achieved in Social Sphere in the
Framework of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement”, 2015]
General Features of the Legislation Regulating the Social
Sector

It carries simultaneously the ideology of Soviet, post-Soviet,

European, and international law-making as well as the law-
making of CIS countries.
In different periods, lawmakers based their decisions on
different political factors against the backdrop of different
state of the balance of power between the President, the
Parliament, and the Cabinet of Ministers.
The number of legal documents – both developed and under
development – makes the social legislation unwieldy and
complicated.
Strategic documents set global tasks, and oftentimes those
tasks remain just declarations and good wishes.
 State Budget and Social Sector
The budgetary policy goes at cross-purposes with the attempts to
widen social guarantees and ensure social rights in accordance
with the international treaties.
Key features of Ukraine’s budgetary system of the social sector:
The large number of officially registered target groups, by social
and professional attribute, entitled to diverse social benefits and
subsidies.
The Government’s tendency to increase the number of recipients
of social benefits.
Ineffective measures to ensure the targeting of social benefits.
Ineffective use of budgetary funds.
Chronic excess and rapid rise of state budget liabilities, which
lead to constant adjustments of the state budget and tax
legislation as well as to difficulties in administration of taxes and
difficulties in tax forecasts.
Two Approaches to the Development of Social
Sector Legislation (1)

social sector is an instrument

to ensure social and labour
rights as well as an
instrument to fight poverty,
both poverty and the need to
protect the rights being the social sector is secondary to
result of economic reforms economic development
(increase in social burden on (decrease in state budget
the state budget) expenditures; ‘New Year’ law
packages)
Social
Approach
Pragmatic
Approach
Two Approaches to the Development of Social
Sector Legislation (2)

• The Constitution of Ukraine of 1996 defined Ukraine

as a “social” state, leading to unqualified domination
of the “social approach”.
• Being unable to fulfil all guarantees and social
commitments of the state, social policy has rather
become an instrument to buy votes at elections.
• Passing of the Law “On Preventing Financial
Catastrophe and Establishing Pre-Conditions for
Economic Growth in Ukraine” in 2014 means that the
new reformative government chose the “pragmatic
approach”, in some respects, in its very radical form.
Peculiarities of the Reform Processes: Stakeholders

Governmental bodies include a large number of new

regulatory documents into their work plans and monitor
Public Authorities
the development of the respective documents by a set
deadline.

International International projects are interested in producing new

Organisations regulatory documents so that they could report on their
and Projects development as projects’ achievements.

Service providers seek to secure funding for their

Service Providers organisations or residential institutions and target groups,
thus embarking on legislative activities.

Like international projects, many civil society organisations’

Civil Society
experts also have to report on their activities and results; and
Organisations
draft legislation is a good reporting means.
Thank you for
attention
ochurkina@unicef.org