Current trends in financing social expenditures of the state budget

Abstract

The article substantiates the relevance of the study of building an effective socio-economic model of society at the present stage in Ukraine, which is the creation of an appropriate system of social protection of the population. At the same time, the determining factor is the financial support of this sphere, which contributes to the formation of effective social protection of citizens, which, given the current realities and financial capabilities of the State, is extremely limited. The article outlines the problems of budgetary financing of social programmes, which will contribute to reliable social protection of the population and achievement of a high level of both its welfare and prosperity of the country as a whole. This necessitates the transformation of Ukraine's development in the current conditions in the context of modernisation of the State's socio-economic policy and government actions aimed at improving the living standards of citizens and orientation towards European standards. It is determined that the stable functioning of a modern democratic society primarily requires an effective construction of the State social protection system. Thus, the socio-economic processes currently taking place in Ukraine do not contribute to the proper quality and accessibility of public goods in the social sphere, increase in the level of employment and well-being of the population. This is primarily due to the ongoing hostilities in the country and the consequent difficult financial and economic situation in the country, which has led to a decline in the living standards of its citizens, resulting in an increase in the number of internally displaced persons, low-income groups, the disabled, large families and other categories of people in need of social assistance. The author emphasizes the importance of creating an effective system of social protection of the population in the State, which is one of the key tasks in the process of building an effective socio-economic model of society at the present stage of development. The determining factor contributing to the provision of social protection of citizens is proper financing of this area in terms of optimisation of possible sources in the context of limited financial resources of the State. It is proved that the main transformation in the social protection system in Ukraine, especially in the war and post-war periods, should take place in the area of financing war-related benefits (for the disabled and those who lost their breadwinner); expenditures on rehabilitation of population groups affected by the war. It is also advisable to launch a programme to provide benefits and payments to military personnel and their families and to increase payments to vulnerable categories of the population. It is the comprehensive implementation of the proposed actions that will increase the efficiency of social sector financing and improve the quality of life of the population.