Poland: The Social Safety Net During the Transition

May 1, 1993

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Format: Chicago

Xavier Maret, and Gerd Schwartz. Poland: The Social Safety Net During the Transition, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 1993) accessed November 9, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

This paper argues that the brunt of the reform-induced increase in Polish social expenditures has been borne by social insurance arrangements (mainly pensions and unemployment compensation) rather than by social assistance schemes targeted to the poor or more temporary social safety net schemes. This is largely due to ease of access to social security and its more attractive benefit structure. Much of recent social expenditure reform had an ad-hoc nature and was driven by the need to alleviate looming financial distress. A major policy challenge is to avoid a further burdening of social security by needs that should be addressed by basic income support and emergency assistance policies or by general transfers (e.g., family allowances). Current reform needs are illustrated by using unemployment benefits and pensions as examples.

Subject: Aging, Expenditure, Income, Labor, Pension spending, Pensions, Population and demographics, Social assistance spending, Unemployment, Unemployment benefits

Keywords: Aging, Dependency ratio, Early retirement, Eastern Europe, Gross income, Labor market, Occupational pension, Pension spending, Pension system, Pensions, Retirement age, Social assistance spending, Social security, Unemployment benefits, Unemployment compensation, Western Europe, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

62
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 1993/042
Stock No:

WPIEA0421993
ISBN:

9781451846164
ISSN:

1018-5941

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