TRENDS OF SOCIAL POLICY IN UKRAINE IN THE CONDITIONS OF FULL-SCALE WAR

Abstract

The article is devoted to the definition of trends in the development of social policy in Ukraine in the conditions of a full-scale war. Thanks to the conducted analysis, a decrease in the direction of spending of the state budget of Ukraine on social vectors in 2022–2023 was revealed, especially in terms of the share, and in some cases, in terms of the financing indicator, compared to the «pre-war» year of 2021. It should be noted that the minimum wage will be raised rather rapidly during the period from February 2022. There was no clear trend in the dynamics of the average salary in Ukraine even before the start of the full-scale invasion, but the amplitude has become higher since February 2022. Pre-war highs during the full-scale Russian invasion have only been reached twice, but it can be said that, even adjusted for inflation, there is a partial recovery in the labor market. In addition, the article provides an analysis of social assistance to citizens of our country who were forced to change their place of residence due to hostilities since 2014 (the beginning of ATO). From March 1, 2024, the approach to providing state aid has changed – it will be provided only to the most vulnerable categories of the population, in order to make aid more targeted and thus optimize the budget. The work is submitted to the project of the Demographic Development Strategy of Ukraine until 2040. It should be noted that this Strategy is still only a draft, so some inconsistent points, for example, indicative indicators that would provide an opportunity to assess the fulfillment of the set goals, can still be optimized. In addition, there are certain doubts about the expediency of planning it for a rather long period, as much as 16 years, in the conditions of constant uncertainty, in which our state has been for at least two years, and according to various indications, a much longer period. It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that some of the tasks or even goals have a callous, but rather superficial character, which raises questions about how to provide resources for their implementation. However, once again, it is necessary to note the work carried out by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine to develop this Strategy, and it should be noted positively that planning is already returning from the emergency mode in which it was at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia to a more long-term one.