Four new Flash Reports prepared by the European Social policy Network (ESPN) are now available and provide information on recent social policy developments in Malta, the FYR of Macedonia and Slovenia, as well as a brief analysis of the EU-SILC data related to childcare use in the EU.

• The demand for residential care for the elderly in Malta is not being met. Despite the services provided by the State, the Church and, more recently, the business sector, waiting lists are quite long.  A new pilot initiative has been announced in the 2016 Budget to assist families who employ a full-time or part-time carer to look after the elderly in their own home.
• In August 2015, the Parliament of the FYR of Macedonia abolished the recent and controversial changes to the Law on compulsory social contributions which had made social security contributions obligatory for income from specific sources - amongst others, temporary service contracts. The abolished law had led to widespread public disagreement as it did not give the workers concerned access to all social insurance rights, and could have thus worsened the already high unemployment and poverty rates in the country.
• After two years without a clear healthcare strategy, the Slovenian government passed the resolution on the National Plan on Healthcare 2016-2025 in December 2015. The widely discussed issue of paediatric heart surgery in Slovenia illustrates how the guidelines set out in the resolution can improve the country’s healthcare system by taking into account cross-border cooperation, ensuring quality and safety, and making an efficient use of the healthcare resources available.
• A Flash Report prepared by the UK ESPN team summarises an analysis of the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), which provides a better and more up-to-date source of comparative data on the proportion of preschool children participating in childcare than the data published by the OECD.