Seven new Flash Reports prepared by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) are now available and provide information on recent social policy developments in Croatia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Portugal, Serbia and Sweden.

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Croatia: suspension of compensation for unemployed parents of young children in Zagreb

In May 2022, the authorities in the City of Zagreb decided to reduce the amount and duration of the financial compensation for unemployed parents raising and caring for three or more children, of which at least one of preschool age. Last year, the newly elected authorities had already adopted a decision preventing new beneficiaries from entering the scheme as of September 2021, because of its high costs and controversial demographic impact. Instead they propose to increase funding for the construction of nurseries and kindergartens and to include the preschool children covered by the measure in early and preschool education programmes.

Reform of the social care system in Croatia: a more centralised approach

In 2021 the Ministry of Labour, Pension System and Family Policy launched a public consultation on several strategic documents aimed at reforming social care – including an important Social Care Bill. Although some key stakeholders strongly criticised certain of its aspects, the Bill was adopted almost unchanged by Parliament in January 2022. Discussions among academics, social care and civil society stakeholders now suggest that, given rising inflation and energy costs, social benefits will need further improvements to protect the standard of living of the poor.

Personal income tax refund for families in Hungary

The Prime Minister announced in 2021 that if GDP growth reached 5.5% in 2021, families with children would have their personal income tax (PIT) totally refunded in 2022, to ease the shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The refund applies to all people with children paying PIT, but is capped at HUF 809,000 (€2,186) – which corresponds to the PIT on a yearly average salary.

North Macedonia: increase in minimum wage and its wider effects

The Parliament of North Macedonia has adopted amendments to the Law on the Minimum Wage, instituting a 19.3% increase in the gross minimum wage, along with a new methodology for its calculation. The wider effects of these amendments include: potential for reduction of the in-work at-risk-of-poverty rate, impact on thresholds for access to social protection, as well as impact on other wages, most notably those in the public sector.

Portugal drops most user fees for hospital care

As of June 2022, most user fees for inpatient and outpatient hospital care have been eliminated in Portugal. It is the final stage of a process in which user fees for healthcare have been progressively abolished, following the implementation of a new “Basic Law” on healthcare in 2019. It is an important step towards ensuring affordable access to healthcare for everyone, especially the most vulnerable. Out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in Portugal are almost twice the EU-27 average.

Serbia: the long-awaited Law on Social Entrepreneurship is now on its way

In February 2022, after more than a decade of preparation, the Serbian Parliament finally adopted the Law on Social Entrepreneurship. The law will come into force in November 2022, except for the Council for Social Entrepreneurship, which was established on 28 May 2022. The law has been welcomed by many social enterprises established in the past 20 years, but without proper institutional recognition. It officially acknowledges the potential of social enterprises and better supports them in their task of tackling social, economic and environmental challenges.

Sweden seeks to improve the effectiveness of housing benefits and maintenance support

The computation of housing benefits and support for children with an absent parent not paying maintenance, is inaccurate in Sweden and even risks plunging families into debts due to retroactive adjustments. A government-commissioned inquiry proposes to address these problems by fine-tuning benefits and liabilities based on monthly, rather than yearly, income.