Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts
Year: 2023
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/5th.icsha.2023.12.102
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Comparative Analysis of the Impact of Social Benefits on Population Poverty in Scandinavian and Baltic Countries
Rasa Balvočiūtė, Ligita Šalkauskienė
ABSTRACT:
The following article presents a study on the effect of social benefits on poverty reduction in two groups of European countries – Scandinavian and Baltic. The research analysed the dynamic changes in the poverty indicators of the main population in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from 2005 to 2021. The study used regression analysis models of panel data (Ordinary least squares and Fixed-effects methods) to assess the changes in the situation of the poorest residents. The at-risk poverty rate, relative poverty gap, and severe material deprivation indicators were selected to characterize the poverty of the population. To determine the impact of social benefits on poverty reduction, the study also considered factors like economic growth and general and means-tested social protection benefits The EUROSTAT statistical data analysis revealed both similarities and differences in the effects of social protection benefits on population poverty. The general economic growth of Scandinavian countries was found to reduce poverty, while income inequality and cyclical economic fluctuations were found to be the determining factors in the Baltic countries, affecting the poorest population. Social security benefits have an impact on population poverty in both groups of countries, but the effect is different and time-lagged. Means-tested benefits were found to reduce poverty in the Scandinavian countries, whereas such an effect was not found in the Baltic countries. Therefore, the implementation of more targeted social assistance programs remains the most crucial task for reducing poverty in these countries.
keywords: income inequality, monetary poverty, social protection benefits, means-tested benefits