Four new Flash Reports prepared by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) are now available and provide information on the reform of the Greek social insurance system, educational inequality in Lithuania, changes to the Slovenian unemployment benefit scheme and the privatisation of employment services in Sweden.

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• The reform of the social insurance system is one of the main social policy priorities of the new Greek government. The aim is to link contributions and benefits more closely, and to address the aspects of the 2016 pension reform that the Council of State declared unconstitutional. In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the State will pay the social contributions for most employees affected, while the payment of social insurance contributions for freelancers, farmers and self-employed persons has been suspended for six months.
• Discussions on the financing of private schools by the state have raised the important topic of educational inequality in Lithuania. The private education sector is not large in the country, but it has been gradually expanding as a result of financial incentives from the state to set up private schools. This expansion combined with the public disillusionment with the quality of public education may further exacerbate segregation in the sphere of education. The Ministry is considering the possibility of cutting off public funding for for-profit private schools from the beginning of the next academic year. Regulations on tuition fees and admission rules will also need to be addressed.
• The amendments to the Slovenian Labour Market Regulation Act adopted in December 2019 include more social security for unemployment benefit recipients, faster activation of persons of working age, and maintenance of older persons in employment. The minimum gross amount of unemployment benefit was raised from €350 to €530.19 per month.
• The Swedish government has decided to privatise employment services. Their first attempt failed due to strong opposition among parts of the opposition. The most important challenge is to define a legal framework for the purchase of employment services that keeps unserious private providers outside of the system.