The EU’s financial commitment to social infrastructure has enabled the EU to withstand the economic shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, with public spending on social services such as social protection, education and health accounting for 35% of GDP in 2020, Eurofound said in a new report on 17 August.
“The social services provided vital assistance and a network for people to get through the extraordinary limitations they faced in their daily lives”, says the Agency for the improvement of living and working conditions.
“While the pandemic negatively affected social services, it nevertheless provided lessons on how to adapt them in response to new challenges and social risks. One lesson, for instance, is that policies should be developed to make better use of digitalisation in the sector, to improve access to new technologies and training for both workers and services’ target groups. And, most importantly, there is a need for clear contingency plans and funding for adaptation in times of crisis”.
However, Eurofound also points out that, to date, “there is uncertainty about the future development of social services in the context of the overarching policy interest and investment in the green and digital transition”.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/8bx (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)