Better Social Welfare, Ukraine

To a large extent, the recent global economic‐financial crisis has not affected how the social welfare system in Ukraine provides assistance. While Ukraine did contribute more funds to help meet the greater demands for assistance during the crisis, the country did not maintain the value of social benefits in real terms (after discounting inflationary effects), and it introduced new eligibility qualifications that restricted the numbers of those able to apply for unemployment assistance, thereby easing the burden on the state. All in all, the crisis did not change the way politics is done in Ukraine, nor did it change the fact that the relatively passive and nascent civil society has remained largely inclined to let the state carry on developing and implementing social welfare policy in the same way as before. As such, acceptance and avoidance of the state largely has become the norm.