The challenge

Confronted with a rapidly ageing population and the need for fiscal consolidation, social security systems in CEE countries face the difficult challenge of ensuring adequate benefits while restoring long-term sustainability. This trade-off has made it very difficult to reach national consensus on social security reforms. A further challenge is to extend social security systems to currently uncovered populations, in particular workers in the informal economy, migrant workers, farmers, as well as the growing number of workers in the non-standard forms of employment including those in the platform economy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social protection played a vital role in protecting jobs and income of those affected by the crisis. However, the crisis has revealed again the challenges of social security systems concerning the coverage, adequacy of benefits, and long-term sustainability.

Service offer 

• Ensuring minimum standards of social security benefits, including the national social protection floors.
• Analysis of the fiscal space for financing a comprehensive and shock-resilient social security system.
• Extension of the coverage of national social security systems, in particular for informal, rural and migrant workers, as well as workers in non-standard forms of employment.
• Management support to social security institutions for improving the efficiency of administration and contribution collection through IT innovations.