Abstract
Abstract. This paper deals with changes in social policy (social security and health care) in the three Baltic states over the last decade. It seeks to elucidate the emerging differences among the three Baltic states in their social policy arrangements. The study employs inductive methods for the analysis of social security institutions, pursuing a comparative institutional analysis by means of macro level descriptive statistics. The paper demonstrates that in the period 2008–2012, the differences among the three countries in social policy arrangements have exacerbated. Estonia has handled the global financial crisis much better and managed to keep more solidarity and universalism in so cial policy as well as higher benefit levels as compared with Latvia and Lithuania.Key words: social security, health care, Baltic states, welfare state, differences
Highlights
The Baltic states offer an interesting case for studying social policy
The study seeks answers to the questions: how have the social policy arrangements changed in the three Baltic states? Have differences in social policy arrangements widened or narrowed in the three countries after the global financial crisis of 2008/2009?
The sources regarding the legislation of the Baltic countries’ social policy systems are primarily various international and national publications and reports published by the Ministry of Welfare of Latvia, the Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Lithuania
Summary
The Baltic states offer an interesting case for studying social policy. They experienced the Soviet authoritarian rule in 1940–1941 and 1945–1991, and this made a significant impact of their subsequent development trajectories. This paper seeks to show changes in social policy arrangements in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It covers the period from 2000 up to 2012. The study seeks answers to the questions: how have the social policy arrangements changed in the three Baltic states? The sources regarding the legislation of the Baltic countries’ social policy systems are primarily various international and national publications and reports published by the Ministry of Welfare of Latvia, the Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of Lithuania. The emphasis will be put on the emerging differences among the three countries
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