FEATURES OF SOCIAL PROTECTION UNDER CONDITIONS OF DECENTRALIZATION OF BUDGETARY POWERS

Abstract

Introduction. One of the indicators of society's development is the current system of social protection, its effective organization ensures the stable development of society. In the context of decentralization of budgetary powers, local authorities become guarantors of social protection and direct providers of public services, whose main task is to provide citizens with an adequate level of social protection, which is carried out in accordance with state standards. The purpose of the article is to research of the social protection of the population in the conditions of budget decentralization and substantiation of proposals for its improvement in terms of improving the efficiency of social services. Results. The centralized and decentralized models of social protection in Ukraine were considered. The powers of central and local authorities in the implementation of social protection and the provision of social services were systematized. The dynamics of expenditures on social protection from the state budget, local budgets and state extra-budgetary funds was analyzed. Data on changes in the distribution of expenditures between state and local budgets were presented. Conclusions. The main directions of financing the social protection system were indicated. The advantages of the decentralized model of public services over the centralized one were emphasized. In the context of improving the effectiveness of social protection and the quality of social services, it is proposed to reduce the hierarchical network of budgetary institutions in the field of social services, monitoring and analyzing the number of socially vulnerable groups and providing social services on a competitive basis. The implementation of the proposed measures will improve the social protection system and will allow more rational use of public funds.