Social Policies
#31Key Findings
With several notable weaknesses, Slovakia scores relatively poorly in international comparison (rank 31) with regard to social policies. Its score on this measure has improved by 0.2 points relative to its 2014 level.
The country entered the pandemic with serious healthcare staffing shortages, which created bottlenecks in dealing with COVID-19. A hospital reform is underway. The country’s Roma communities were hit very hard by the pandemic, with some whole settlements subject to enforced quarantines instead of personal isolation. The general poverty risk is low, but regional disparities are substantial.
A comprehensive education reform is underway. Initially, pre-primary education has been made compulsory at age five, and investments in digital education increased. Many disadvantaged children lacked access to remote learning during the pandemic, thus increasing social disparities.
Women bear primary domestic responsibilities, with limited childcare available. The employment rate among women remains quite low, especially among parents. A proposed pension reform would reverse previous changes, eliminating the set retirement age of 64, and indexing benefits to average life expectancy. Integration policies have been liberalized in order to enhance labor migration.
The country entered the pandemic with serious healthcare staffing shortages, which created bottlenecks in dealing with COVID-19. A hospital reform is underway. The country’s Roma communities were hit very hard by the pandemic, with some whole settlements subject to enforced quarantines instead of personal isolation. The general poverty risk is low, but regional disparities are substantial.
A comprehensive education reform is underway. Initially, pre-primary education has been made compulsory at age five, and investments in digital education increased. Many disadvantaged children lacked access to remote learning during the pandemic, thus increasing social disparities.
Women bear primary domestic responsibilities, with limited childcare available. The employment rate among women remains quite low, especially among parents. A proposed pension reform would reverse previous changes, eliminating the set retirement age of 64, and indexing benefits to average life expectancy. Integration policies have been liberalized in order to enhance labor migration.
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To what extent does education policy deliver high-quality, equitable and efficient education and training?
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Education policy fully achieves the criteria.
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Education policy largely achieves the criteria.
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Education policy partially achieves the criteria.
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Education policy does not achieve the criteria at all.
The Slovak education system has been suffering from a number of weaknesses (European Commission 2021). While public spending on education has risen, its level is still among the lowest in the European Union. The teaching profession is unattractive, therefore the graduates tend to opt for different, better paid jobs. There are huge regional disparities in teaching outcomes, and students from socially disadvantaged groups tend to achieve only half the points of their peers from socially more favorable environments. Vocational education has been neglected since the fall of communism and universities focus on non-technical education. While tertiary education attainment rates are close to the EU average, quality control in higher education does not meet international standards. As a result, the education system is insufficiently geared to increasing Slovakia’s economic potential in that Slovakia faces a shortage of skilled workers needed for its industry-oriented economy.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools remained closed for rather long periods. As many socially disadvantaged children did not have access to remote learning, social disparities in learning outcomes have risen. The Ministry of Education tried to address these problems by providing additional funds for the purchase of technical equipment for teachers and students and by supporting summer school. In August 2021, it also launched the campaign Open schools, supporting vaccination of all eligible persons as a way to begin the 2021/22 school normally and to avoid repeated school closures (Gerbery 2021; Terenzani/ Hrabovská Francelova 2021).
In October 2021, Minister of Education Branislav Gröhling also presented a much-awaited comprehensive reform package consisting of three laws on primary and secondary education. Slovakia plans to expand early childhood education and care, reform school curricula to support digitalization, reform teacher education and professional requirements, improve inclusiveness at all levels of education, reduce Roma segregation and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students. A first step was to introduce compulsory pre-primary education for five-year-old children in September 2021. Another was the action called the “digital leap” in education, which initially invests €40 million in digital technologies. Greats parts of the reform will be funded in part by the EU Resilience and Recovery Fund. The government also plans to introduce reforms in higher education. An amendment to the Higher Education Act is meant to attract better professionals from abroad and give incentives for quality universities. Finally, the Strategy for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation until 2030, approved in 2021, entails improvements for Roma children such as support for the creation of a stimulating environment for pupils from marginalized Roma communities.
Citations:
European Commission (2021): Education and Training Monitor 2021: Slovakia. Luxembourg (https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eac/education-and-training-monitor-2021/sk/slovakia.html).
Gerbery, D. (2021): Upcoming new school year 2021/2022: rising concerns in Slovakia about the consequences of new school closures. European Social Policy Network, ESPN Flash Report 2021/55, Brussels: European Commission.
Terenzani, M., N. Hrabovská Francelova (2021): Slovak Children’s Education Falls Victim to the Unvaccinated, in: BalkanInsight, December 15 (https://balkaninsight.com/2021/12/15/slovak-childrens-education-falls-victim-to-the-unvaccinated/).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools remained closed for rather long periods. As many socially disadvantaged children did not have access to remote learning, social disparities in learning outcomes have risen. The Ministry of Education tried to address these problems by providing additional funds for the purchase of technical equipment for teachers and students and by supporting summer school. In August 2021, it also launched the campaign Open schools, supporting vaccination of all eligible persons as a way to begin the 2021/22 school normally and to avoid repeated school closures (Gerbery 2021; Terenzani/ Hrabovská Francelova 2021).
In October 2021, Minister of Education Branislav Gröhling also presented a much-awaited comprehensive reform package consisting of three laws on primary and secondary education. Slovakia plans to expand early childhood education and care, reform school curricula to support digitalization, reform teacher education and professional requirements, improve inclusiveness at all levels of education, reduce Roma segregation and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students. A first step was to introduce compulsory pre-primary education for five-year-old children in September 2021. Another was the action called the “digital leap” in education, which initially invests €40 million in digital technologies. Greats parts of the reform will be funded in part by the EU Resilience and Recovery Fund. The government also plans to introduce reforms in higher education. An amendment to the Higher Education Act is meant to attract better professionals from abroad and give incentives for quality universities. Finally, the Strategy for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation until 2030, approved in 2021, entails improvements for Roma children such as support for the creation of a stimulating environment for pupils from marginalized Roma communities.
Citations:
European Commission (2021): Education and Training Monitor 2021: Slovakia. Luxembourg (https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eac/education-and-training-monitor-2021/sk/slovakia.html).
Gerbery, D. (2021): Upcoming new school year 2021/2022: rising concerns in Slovakia about the consequences of new school closures. European Social Policy Network, ESPN Flash Report 2021/55, Brussels: European Commission.
Terenzani, M., N. Hrabovská Francelova (2021): Slovak Children’s Education Falls Victim to the Unvaccinated, in: BalkanInsight, December 15 (https://balkaninsight.com/2021/12/15/slovak-childrens-education-falls-victim-to-the-unvaccinated/).
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To what extent does social policy prevent exclusion and decoupling from society?
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Policies very effectively enable societal inclusion and ensure equal opportunities.
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For the most part, policies enable societal inclusion effectively and ensure equal opportunities.
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For the most part, policies fail to prevent societal exclusion effectively and ensure equal opportunities.
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Policies exacerbate unequal opportunities and exclusion from society.
The Slovak social-protection system covers standard social risks, however society and public policies remain rather non-inclusive. Due to the country’s relatively uniform income distribution and a redistributive social policy, income inequality and the risk of poverty remain relatively low. However, there are substantial differences between regions, gender and ethnic groups. As measured by the regional Gini coefficient, Slovakia stands out as the country with the highest regional disparities in the European Union. Roma and children from disadvantaged families continue to be the groups most at risk of social exclusion. The poverty rate among Roma is more than six times higher than for the general population and also higher than in other societies with sizable Roma populations. Slovakia continues to segregate Roma children and children with disabilities in education. Although showing slight improvements, access to the labor market, especially for women and people living in the east and north, has remained a challenge. The main reasons for this phenomenon are the combination of low growth and job creation in the country’s poorer regions, as well as an insufficient infrastructure and incentives for regional labor mobility to job-rich areas. The underdeveloped long-term care system infringes upon the social inclusion of elderly and frail elderly people. The low availability of rental or social housing negatively affects social policies that target socially disadvantaged or excluded persons, or persons with disabilities.
The country’s Roma communities were hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In some cases, entire settlements were subject to enforced quarantines instead of personal isolation measures. In order to improve the situation of the Roma, the government approved a new “Strategy for equality, inclusion and Roma participation until 2030” in 2021.
The country’s Roma communities were hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In some cases, entire settlements were subject to enforced quarantines instead of personal isolation measures. In order to improve the situation of the Roma, the government approved a new “Strategy for equality, inclusion and Roma participation until 2030” in 2021.
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To what extent do health care policies provide high-quality, inclusive and cost-efficient health care?
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Health care policy achieves the criteria fully.
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Health care policy achieves the criteria largely.
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Health care policy achieves the criteria partly.
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Health care policy does not achieve the criteria at all.
Slovakia has a mandatory health-insurance system that provides all residents with primary, secondary and tertiary care, pharmaceuticals and medical devices (OECD/ European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies 2021). The state covers the health-insurance costs of children, students, pensioners, the (registered) unemployed and women on maternity leave. From a comparative perspective, the quality and efficiency of healthcare services are relatively low. A government spending review published in autumn 2016 showed that there is significant scope to increase the cost-effectiveness of various areas of healthcare. Bad working conditions in the Slovak health sector and mass migration of doctors and nurses to other EU member states have resulted in a shortage of staff. The Slovak Medical Chamber estimates that Slovakia has a shortfall of about 3,000 doctors. If those who have already reached retirement age but are still practicing are counted, then the deficit reaches 5,000 doctors. This comparatively low pre-pandemic density of doctors and nurses and workforce capacity constituted a major bottleneck in Slovakia’s pandemic response.
During the 2016-2020 term, a planned healthcare reform failed. The then health minister Andrea Kalavská announced an additional €90 million investment in the healthcare sector and prepared a comprehensive hospital reform, which was supported by many experts as well as by the parliamentary opposition. Approved by the cabinet after months of discussion at the end of September 2019, the reform was eventually withdrawn from the parliament’s agenda because of opposition from Smer-SD, orchestrated by former prime minister Robert Fico.
The new center-right government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by trying to boost physical and human resources. Vaccination began at the end of 2020, but has progressed slowly. Building on the reform attempt in the previous term, the new center-right government also prepared a hospital reform, which was approved by parliament after much haggling in December 2021. This reform aims to ensure greater expertise and hospital specialization by redefining the roles and status of hospitals according to the care they provide to patients. Healthcare reform has featured prominently in the government’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. Slovakia will receive €1.533 billion from the EU Recovery Fund to strengthen its healthcare system. These resources will be split into three parts: €1.163 billion for hospital, emergency and primary care (including optimization of the hospital network); €105 million for mental healthcare; and €265 million for long-term social and healthcare.
Citations:
OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2021): State of Health in the EU: Country Health Profile Slovakia. Paris: OECD, Brussels: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/docs/librariesprovider3/country-health-profiles/chp2021pdf/slovakia-countryhealthprofile2021.pdf?sfvrsn=f219e058_5&download=true).
During the 2016-2020 term, a planned healthcare reform failed. The then health minister Andrea Kalavská announced an additional €90 million investment in the healthcare sector and prepared a comprehensive hospital reform, which was supported by many experts as well as by the parliamentary opposition. Approved by the cabinet after months of discussion at the end of September 2019, the reform was eventually withdrawn from the parliament’s agenda because of opposition from Smer-SD, orchestrated by former prime minister Robert Fico.
The new center-right government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by trying to boost physical and human resources. Vaccination began at the end of 2020, but has progressed slowly. Building on the reform attempt in the previous term, the new center-right government also prepared a hospital reform, which was approved by parliament after much haggling in December 2021. This reform aims to ensure greater expertise and hospital specialization by redefining the roles and status of hospitals according to the care they provide to patients. Healthcare reform has featured prominently in the government’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. Slovakia will receive €1.533 billion from the EU Recovery Fund to strengthen its healthcare system. These resources will be split into three parts: €1.163 billion for hospital, emergency and primary care (including optimization of the hospital network); €105 million for mental healthcare; and €265 million for long-term social and healthcare.
Citations:
OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2021): State of Health in the EU: Country Health Profile Slovakia. Paris: OECD, Brussels: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/docs/librariesprovider3/country-health-profiles/chp2021pdf/slovakia-countryhealthprofile2021.pdf?sfvrsn=f219e058_5&download=true).
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To what extent do family support policies enable women to combine parenting with participation in the labor market?
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Family support policies effectively enable women to combine parenting with employment.
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Family support policies provide some support for women who want to combine parenting and employment.
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Family support policies provide only few opportunities for women who want to combine parenting and employment.
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Family support policies force most women to opt for either parenting or employment.
In Slovakia, traditional notions of the family are still fairly strong. Mothers of children under two years of age rarely work, the employment rate for women (25 – 49 years old) with children below six years of age reaches a mere 40%, and the gender employment gap for young women (20 – 29 years old) is among the highest in the European Union. Working women face an enormous double burden of both professional and domestic responsibilities. This situation is reinforced by the low incidence of part-time employment, income tax splitting and the relatively long duration of parental leave. Another financial disincentive that undermines female labor market participation is the loss of the dependent spouse allowance households face when a secondary earner enters the labor market. The number of spaces in childcare facilities have remained limited since the late 1990s and have not kept up with the increase in the birth rate. The proportion of children between four years old and the starting age for compulsory education in early childhood education in Slovakia is the lowest in the European Union, while the proportion of children below the age of three in early childhood education is the second lowest in the European Union. As a result, motherhood has a particularly discouraging effect on female employment in Slovakia compared to other European countries.
In the run-up to the 2020 parliamentary elections, Smer-SD returned to its previous policy model. The Pellegrini government increased the parental allowance by €100 per month for children below the age of three, although only for children that are not enrolled in a public childcare facility. The 2020 change in government has not resulted in major changes in family policy. As of the 2021/22 school year, the new center-right government has made pre-primary education compulsory for five-year-old children. The coalition partners, and in particular OL’aNO and Sme-Rodina, have remained committed to a traditional family model and have preferred tax-based family-support measures over an extension of childcare facilities.
In the run-up to the 2020 parliamentary elections, Smer-SD returned to its previous policy model. The Pellegrini government increased the parental allowance by €100 per month for children below the age of three, although only for children that are not enrolled in a public childcare facility. The 2020 change in government has not resulted in major changes in family policy. As of the 2021/22 school year, the new center-right government has made pre-primary education compulsory for five-year-old children. The coalition partners, and in particular OL’aNO and Sme-Rodina, have remained committed to a traditional family model and have preferred tax-based family-support measures over an extension of childcare facilities.
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To what extent does pension policy realize goals of poverty prevention, intergenerational equity and fiscal sustainability?
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Pension policy achieves the objectives fully.
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Pension policy achieves the objectives largely.
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Pension policy achieves the objectives partly.
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Pension policy does not achieve the objectives at all.
Slovakia introduced a three-pillar pension system along World Bank lines in 2004. From 2012 to 2015, the Fico government adopted a number of measures aimed at strengthening the first (public, pay-as-you-go) system to the detriment of the originally relatively strong second (private, fully funded) pillar. These changes have, as has happened in the past, increased the role of the state in providing for the elderly and have given the pension system a more redistributive nature. In order to limit the pressure on the first pillar associated with a rapidly aging Slovak population, the indexation of pensions was gradually changed between 2013 and 2017. Instead of being indexed to the growth of the average wage and the consumer price index (i.e., inflation), the annual adjustment of pensions became dependent on the development of the cost of living of pensioners. In 2017, however, the government reneged on the change in indexation. An ad hoc increase of pensions by 2% in 2017 was followed by the guarantee of a pension increase of at least 2% of an average pension for the period 2018 – 2021. These changes have improved the situation of pensioners, but have reduced the financial sustainability of the first pension pillar. Sustainability has further suffered due to the parliament’s decision in March 2019 to stop automatic increases in the retirement age in line with life expectancy levels and to set the retirement age at 64 years old. Put on the agenda by Smer-SD leader and former Prime Minister Robert Fico, the change in the retirement age was supported by the trade unions, which organized a petition that was signed by more than 230,000 people. The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of the Economy as well as opposition parties and several think tanks opposed the proposal, forecasting that the changes would undermine the long-term sustainability of the pensions system and estimating that the proposal would cost €900 million per year.
The new center-right government has made the restoration of the sustainability of the pension system one of the priorities identified in its government manifesto and in Slovakia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (Gerbery 2021). It plans to make the three-pillar pension scheme sustainable again by scrapping the 64-year pension age cap and returning to a system in which the retirement age is dependent on average life expectancy. It also wants to increase pension entitlements that derive from providing care for children. A third planned provision is the parental bonus. The idea is that each working person may direct their social security provider to shift a portion of their old-age insurance benefits to their parents’ pensions (2.5% for each parent). At the end of 2020, a general framework for a pension reform along these lines was incorporated into the Slovak constitution. The hammering out of the details and the amendment of the Act on social insurance have been complicated by controversies within the governing coalition. The parental bonus has been criticized by trade unions as undermining solidarity.
Citations:
Gerbery, D. (2021): In Need of Change: Reforming the Old-Age Pension System in Slovaka. European Social Policy Network, ESPN Flash Report 2021/54, Brussels: European Commission.
The new center-right government has made the restoration of the sustainability of the pension system one of the priorities identified in its government manifesto and in Slovakia’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (Gerbery 2021). It plans to make the three-pillar pension scheme sustainable again by scrapping the 64-year pension age cap and returning to a system in which the retirement age is dependent on average life expectancy. It also wants to increase pension entitlements that derive from providing care for children. A third planned provision is the parental bonus. The idea is that each working person may direct their social security provider to shift a portion of their old-age insurance benefits to their parents’ pensions (2.5% for each parent). At the end of 2020, a general framework for a pension reform along these lines was incorporated into the Slovak constitution. The hammering out of the details and the amendment of the Act on social insurance have been complicated by controversies within the governing coalition. The parental bonus has been criticized by trade unions as undermining solidarity.
Citations:
Gerbery, D. (2021): In Need of Change: Reforming the Old-Age Pension System in Slovaka. European Social Policy Network, ESPN Flash Report 2021/54, Brussels: European Commission.
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How effectively do policies support the integration of migrants into society?
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Cultural, education and social policies effectively support the integration of migrants into society.
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Cultural, education and social policies seek to integrate migrants into society, but have failed to do so effectively.
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Cultural, education and social policies do not focus on integrating migrants into society.
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Cultural, education and social policies segregate migrant communities from the majority society.
While the share of foreigners in the Slovak population is still relatively low compared to most other EU member states, the inflow of migrants increased in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic due to a shortage of labor. After the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico in March 2018, the Smer-SD-led government softened its strong anti-immigration stance. At the EU Summit in June 2018, new Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini agreed to accept 1,200 migrants. Moreover, the government started to ease foreign access to the Slovak labor market in order to mitigate the shortage of labor in certain regions of the country. The new center-right government has built on these moves. It has made Ján Orlovský, who had worked as an executive director of the Open Society Foundation in Slovakia for five years, head of the Migration Office, where he presented in 2021 a new migration strategy for the next four years (Ministry of the Interior 2021). The strategy’s main goals include creating the conditions for legal migration in keeping with the country’s other priorities and its capacity to both receive foreigners and support their integration. It emphasizes the need for well-managed labor migration in order to prevent social, economic and environmental tensions. Interestingly, the policy also specifies the need to prioritize the security of Slovakia and the rights of its inhabitants (both nationals and legal migrants). Clearly, securitizing migration continues to inform the new government’s approach to migration (Skolkay 2020).
Citations:
Skolkay, A. (2020): The Janus-faced Immigration Policy of Slovakia, demos, December 4 (https://demos-h2020.eu/en/blog/2020/12/the-janus-faced-immigration-policy-of-slovakia).
Ministry of the Interior (2021): Migračná politika Slovenskej republiky s výhľadom do roku 2025. (Migration Policy of the Slovak Republic till 2025). Bratislava (https://www.minv.sk/?zamer-migracnej-politiky-slovenskej-republiky).
Citations:
Skolkay, A. (2020): The Janus-faced Immigration Policy of Slovakia, demos, December 4 (https://demos-h2020.eu/en/blog/2020/12/the-janus-faced-immigration-policy-of-slovakia).
Ministry of the Interior (2021): Migračná politika Slovenskej republiky s výhľadom do roku 2025. (Migration Policy of the Slovak Republic till 2025). Bratislava (https://www.minv.sk/?zamer-migracnej-politiky-slovenskej-republiky).
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How effectively does internal security policy protect citizens against security risks?
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Internal security policy protects citizens against security risks very effectively.
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Internal security policy protects citizens against security risks more or less effectively.
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Internal security policy does not effectively protect citizens against security risks.
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Internal security policy exacerbates the security risks.
Although government spending on public order and safety is among the highest in the European Union, and the actual levels of crimes against rank-and-file citizens is low, internal security has been one of the major political issues in Slovakia for some time. The subjective feeling of security in private or public space has decreased due to several factors. First, from the beginning of the EU refugee crisis, almost all politicians, headed by then-Prime Minister Fico, fueled fears by painting negative consequences of the migration crisis. Second, the inefficient or reluctant persecution of criminal action or problematic linkages between politics and business and the murder of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová have dramatically reduced trust in the police and security forces. Among OECD countries, only Mexico scores worse than Slovakia in this regard.
Internal security has featured prominently in the government manifesto of the new center-right government. The latter has announced its plans to develop a new security strategy and to strengthen trust in the police. So far, however, progress has been limited. Initial proposals to reform the police forces have fallen victim to struggles within the governing coalition. In the summer of 2021, conflicts among the police erupted. In January 2022, several prosecutors with demonstrated success in battling corruption were appointed to high-level positions in the police force, a step which may help mitigate these conflicts.
Internal security has featured prominently in the government manifesto of the new center-right government. The latter has announced its plans to develop a new security strategy and to strengthen trust in the police. So far, however, progress has been limited. Initial proposals to reform the police forces have fallen victim to struggles within the governing coalition. In the summer of 2021, conflicts among the police erupted. In January 2022, several prosecutors with demonstrated success in battling corruption were appointed to high-level positions in the police force, a step which may help mitigate these conflicts.
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To what extent does the government demonstrate an active and coherent commitment to promoting equal socioeconomic opportunities in low- and middle-income countries?
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The government actively and coherently engages in international efforts to promote equal socioeconomic opportunities in low- and middle-income countries. It frequently demonstrates initiative and responsibility, and acts as an agenda-setter.
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The government actively engages in international efforts to promote equal socioeconomic opportunities in low- and middle-income countries. However, some of its measures or policies lack coherence.
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The government shows limited engagement in international efforts to promote equal socioeconomic opportunities in low- and middle-income countries. Many of its measures or policies lack coherence.
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The government does not contribute (and often undermines) efforts to promote equal socioeconomic opportunities in low- and middle-income countries.
Slovakia ceased to receive World Bank development aid in 2008, and has been a donor of development assistance ever since. In September 2013, the country became the 27th member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee. However, official development assistance (ODA) has remained substantially below the EU target of 0.33% of GNI. In 2018, Slovakia took part in the 2018 voluntary national review of the UN’s High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and started to draw up a medium-term strategy for development cooperation for 2019 – 2030. The six identified national priorities for the implementation of the Agenda 2030 resulted from a broad stakeholder participation process, which involved civil society, private sector, and regional and municipal administration representatives, as well as other relevant players. These reform efforts were acknowledged by the EU authorities, which in 2021 entrusted (for the first time in history) the Slovak Agency for International Development Cooperation (SAIDC) with the implementation of an EU project that aims to build local media capacities in Moldova with a budget of € 1 million. Under the new center-right government, the approach to global social policy has not changed.