Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

New data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicate that in most countries of the “rich club” social spending in 2014 remained high, above 30% of the gross national product (GNP). The largest amount is given for social spending in France, followed by the USA, while the average for OECD countries for 2014 is 22% of the GNP. There are, however, countries that have noticeably reduced social spending during recent years. The fact that social spending mostly increases during crises, since the economic growth slows down while the need for social support rises was also shown with the crisis of 2007. Research also showed that OECD members direct most of their social spending towards cash social benefits, instead of social and healthcare services.

More than 30% of the GNP for social spending in 2014 was earmarked by Denmark, Belgium Finland and France, leading with almost 32% of the GNP, while Italy, Austria, Sweden, Spain and Germany directed more than a fourth of their GNP to social spending. On the other side are countries outside of Europe and Turkey, South Korea, Chile and Mexico, spending under 15% of the GNP for social purposes, placing them in the last three spots for social spending currently at the level of Europe in the nineteen-sixties.

OECD members mostly give more for cash social benefits – 12.3% of the GNP than for social and healthcare services (8.6% of the GNP), with the ratio between cash and services mostly balanced in Nordic countries, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK. Public pension payments per spending of nearly 8% of the GNP make up for the largest part in the field of social policy, but differences among countries are sizable. Since 1980, public spending on pensions in OECD countries increased by two percentage points on average, and the demographic changes, as the Organization warns, represent an increasing pressure on pensions spending.

Source: EurActiv.rs