Poverty, Urbanity & Social Policy : Central & Eastern Europe Compared

The aim of this book is to provide the reader with the broad spectrum of poverty and social policy issues in Central and Eastern Europe, and address the most urgent topics of welfare state research, namely poverty, children and social policy; gender, social policy and poverty; urban policy, renewal and poverty, and overall challenges to social policy reform. The book demonstrates that despite an increase in poverty and inequalities in many Central and Eastern European countries during the last 18 years, the social policy systems have not experienced a radical dismantlement throughout the entire region. The post-Communist welfare state still shows more comprehensive solutions to social problems than residual ones. Nevertheless, the deteriorated fiscal capacities of the state in some cases hinder the successful poverty solutions as well as the expansion of the welfare programmes. Yet, the Central and Eastern European region is very diverse regarding the scope and depth of social problems encountered and some countries have implemented more successful policy solutions than other ones. Furthermore, the findings of this volume demonstrate that Central and Eastern European countries are not so dramatically distinct from Western Europe, neither in their social problems encountered, nor in their solutions. Nevertheless, the experience of the socialist regime, the relatively lower wages and lower social benefits as well as the higher share of GDP produced in a shadow economy allow the CEE countries to group into the distinct post-Communist regime.