Український соціум (Oct 2023)
A new social policy as a way to restore human capital
Abstract
The article outlines the approaches and basic principles of forming a new social policy, which Ukraine should pursue in post-war reconstruction. It was determined that the primary goal of such policy should be a change in the paradigm of interaction between the government and society, which would ensure a transition to more pragmatic and effective relations between these parties, social compensation to alleviate social contradictions, as well as “depreciation” of conflicts. The authors emphasized that social protection should become less aimed at providing benefits and assistance to people experiencing poverty and more emphasis on supporting the self-help of Ukrainians. The focus is not only on delivering consumer goods but also on stimulating initiative and self-sufficiency skills. The article outlines the goals and tasks of the new social policy, which consist of restoring public trust in the state, comprehensive transformation of approaches to wages, taxes and social insurance, promotion of adequate employment, ensuring real efficiency of social expenditures, unification of efforts of society, business, and government. The new social policy’s principles should be determined: humanism and social justice, systematicity and comprehensiveness, preventive measures, targeting, adaptability, and multi-subjectivity. The authors suggested mechanisms for implementing the new social policy, among which a special place is taken by a social dialogue based on a four-way (employees, employers, state, local self-government bodies) and four-level (national, branch, territorial and local) model. Corporate social responsibility is defined as a means of deepening social dialogue and the need for its implementation in the form of a national policy model and its normative consolidation, as well as strengthening the joint efforts of business, the state, and civil society organizations to implement such a model, is emphasized.
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