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. 2021 Mar;55(2):358-373.
doi: 10.1111/spol.12704. Epub 2021 Jan 26.

Social policy in the face of a global pandemic: Policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis in Central and Eastern Europe

Jolanta Aidukaite  1 , Steven Saxonberg  2   3 , Dorota Szelewa  4 , Dorottya Szikra  5   6
Affiliations

Social policy in the face of a global pandemic: Policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis in Central and Eastern Europe

Jolanta Aidukaite et al. Soc Policy Adm. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

This article documents and compares the social policies that the governments in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) implemented to combat the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. Our findings show that governments in all four countries reacted to the COVID-19 crisis by providing extensive protection for jobs and enterprises. Differences arise when it comes to solidaristic policy responses to care for the most vulnerable population, in which CEE countries show great variation. We find that social policy responses to the first wave of COVID-19 have largely depended on precious social policy trajectories as well as the political situation of the country during the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID‐19; Hungary; Lithuania; Poland; Slovakia; crisis; social policy.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Social spending, public, per cent of GDP. Source: OECD, 2020
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Real GDP forecast, double‐hit scenario, annual growth rate (%), Annual, 2008–2019, %. Source: OECD, 2020
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Quarterly GDP total, percentage change, previous period, Q3 2017–Q1 2020. Source: OECD, 2020
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Unemployment rate by age group 25‐ to 75‐year‐olds, per cent of labour force. Source: OECD, 2020
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References

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    1. Aidukaite, J. , Moskvina, J. , & Skuciene, D. (2016). Lithuanian welfare system in times of recent crisis. In Schubert K., de Villota P., & Kuhlmann J. (Eds.), Challenges to European welfare systems (pp. 419–441). Switzerland: Springer.
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