The social contract as a trend of transforming the low-income state social support: trends and risks

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issue of introducing social contracts into the practice of state social support for low-income citizens. The author considers the social contract as a trend of the state social support institutional transformation and a tool for reducing poverty. The main purpose of the analysis is to show the existing trends in the process of implementing the state social support that can lead to the risk of misappropriation of funds allocated for reducing poverty in the country and in the Samara region. The article reflects the results of the sociological study with the participation of specialists from the population social protection bodies and the analysis of regulatory and legislative acts. Empirical research methods were in-depth interviews with specialists from the Complex Social Service Centers for the Samara region population and the traditional analysis of documents, including federal and regional legislative acts regulating the process of providing the state social support to low-income citizens on the basis of the social contract. In the course of data analysis, the author developed the empirical classifications of the types of social contract applicants; the social contract priorities for the social service recipients and specialists are determined; distinguished the main trends and risks in the social contract implementation in the Samara region. Based on the results of the study, the author formulated recommendations for improving the process of implementing social contracts for the low-income citizens.