The Social Report 2014–2015
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The Social Report 2014–2015 THE SOCIAL REPORT 2014–2015 MINISTRY OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND LABOUR The Social Report 2014–2015 Vilnius 2015 2 The Social Report 2014–2015 Dear Readers of the Social Report, I am pleased to share with you the greatest achievements of all areas falling within the competence of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, the key topical issues of social policy and the nearest plans. This year has been the year of important decisions aimed to improve social environment and covering the increase of sickness and unemployment benefits as well as compensation for and increase of pensions. We have been gradually yet with certainty approaching our goal to create a sustainable and reliable social environment in which every resident of Lithuania feels safe and receives necessary assistance in any situation. This year we have been working hard and together with scientists have been pursuing the improvement of the Lithuanian social model, which suggests increasing the employment level, improving the regulation of labour relations, ensuring sustainability of the social insurance system and reducing social exclusion. The project is highly important, since it is the first time in the country’s history that a systematic rather than fragmentary approach to the social system has been presented. In 2014, Lithuania recorded an increase in employed residents, the growth of the employment level, a decrease in economically inactive residents and further decline of the unemployment rate. The Youth Guarantee launched last year has gained momentum – 40 800 out of 94 400 young unemployed persons aged 16–29, registered in the labour market and participating in Youth Guarantee activities, became employed, and 14 100 young people took part in active labour market policy measures. Youth is very important for us; therefore, while pursuing youth policy in regions we try to involve young people in activities that are relevant and motivating to them, expand their horizon, and help to acquire new working skills and experiences. We have been successfully pursuing national youth policy, implementing the Erasmus+ programme, and encouraging youth to become actively involved in voluntary activities. We are glad to have kept the promise made to residents – in recent years, with the recovery of our economy, the minimum monthly wage has on two occasions increased even and pensions have been raised as of 1 July 2015 for the first time over a period of six years. The process of compensating for pensions that were reduced due to the crisis is going on smoothly and will be continued until December 2016. Seeking a uniform amount of a sickness benefit during the entire period of sickness, we have increased the amount of a sickness benefit paid for days 3–7 of incapacity for work from 40 to 80 per cent of the recipient’s previous wage. The greatest focus has been asigned to the of institutional care reorganisation, which was commenced last year. We understand that the process will be long and hard; therefore, in order to create an efficient network of services and protect children, the disabled and their family members from inconvenience we have signed a memorandum of cooperation with concerned institutions and subsequently with the Judicial Council. We try to make the reorganisation process as smooth as possible, thus we often communicate and meet with the heads, employees and residents of institutions under the reorganisation, representatives of municipal administrations, encourage them to discuss, share their insights and observations, and talk about the immediate actions of the reform. 3 The Social Report 2014–2015 We have been fostering an idea to develop a meaningful tradition, and this year is the second year in a row that we have organised the “Election of the Best Social Worker”, and the award ceremony will be held on a special day – the Lithuanian Social Worker’s Day. We believe that these awards are a good way to attract society’s attention to the activities of social workers, their merits and good deeds. We would like to raise public awareness of the level of commitment and efforts required by the occupation of a social worker. Communities are the nucleus of society, rallying people for common goals, encouraging them to be active, create and share together, and promoting their citizenship. Community representatives are our very important partners; therefore, we constantly try to maintain a close and high-quality cooperation between the public and non-governmental sectors. The Council of Non-governmental Organisations that started functioning early this year contributes to the achievement of this goal. We have been successfully implementing the Programme of Local Communities since 2012; this year almost EUR 300 000 more than the previous year have been allocated for it. The programme is implemented by all municipalities which take care of their environment, occupation of children and youth, and organise educational events. The year 2015 is highly significant to us as the citizens of the European Union, since we have joined the euro area as of 1 January 2015. Being part of the EU, we have been seeking common goals together with other member states: to create high-quality jobs, combat poverty and social exclusion, and encourage youth to learn and develop. I would like to express my gratefulness to the entire team who exerted many efforts to make this report reach all residents interested in the relevant issues of social policy. I would also like to thank you all who read, show interest and are not indifferent to your country. Ministry of Social Security and Labour Algimanta Pabedinskienė 4 The Social Report 2014–2015 CO–AUTHORS OF SOCIAL REPORT 2014–2015 INTRODUCTION Kristina Vaitkevičienė LABOUR MARKET, LABOUR RELATIONS, SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK Gintarė Bužinskaitė Rasa Malaiškienė Simona Mickutė Jurgita Vitkauskienė SOCIAL INSURANCE AND PENSIONS Inga Barauskaitė Dovilė Ščiukaitė Ūla Urbaitė CASH SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL SCOPE Alena Daujotienė Almira Gecevičiūtė Vilma Karosienė Kristina Tumienė COMMUNITY, CHILD, YOUTH AND FAMILY AFFAIRS Justina Alsytė-Gogelienė Viktorija Mielkutė Jolanta Sakalauskienė Sigita Stakytė Mantas Stulgaitis Asta Šidlauskienė ACTION PLAN FOR INCREASING SOCIAL INCLUSION 2014–2020 Vaida Budzevičienė GENDER EQUALITY Raminta Umbrasaitė USAGE OF THE EU STRUCTURAL SUPPORT Sigita Astrauskaitė Liongina Beinoravičienė INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION Neringa Dulkinaitė Indrė Kumpikevičiūtė Head of Working Group – Vaida Giraitytė Coordinator – Kristina Vaitkevičienė The Administration of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour pays heartfelt thanks to the team of editors for their work preparing this edition. 5 The Social Report 2014–2015 Content 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................7 LABOUR MARKET, LABOUR RELATIONS, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ...9 2.1. LABOUR MARKET .......................................................................................................................................................................... 9 2 2.2. LABOUR RELATIONS AND REMUNERATION FOR WORK ............................................................................................16 2.3. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ................................................................................................................................27 2.4. TOPICALITIES OF SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK ......................................................................................................28 SOCIAL INSURANCE AND PENSIONS ............................................................................... 32 3.1. SOCIAL INSURANCE: OBJECTIVES AND REFORMS .........................................................................................................32 3 3.2. BETTER FINANCIAL SITUATION OF STATE SOCIAL INSURANCE FUND ................................................................36 3.3. STATE SOCIAL INSURANCE PENSIONS AND PENSION ACCUMULATION .............................................................39 3.4. STATE PENSIONS, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE BENEFITS AND SUPPORT TO RESISTANCE PARTICIPANTS AND VICTIMS OF OCCUPATION OF 1940–1990 ...................................................................................................................................43 CASH SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL SCOPE ................................................................... 47 4.1. CASH SOCIAL ASSISTANCE ......................................................................................................................................................47 4 4.2. SOCIAL WORK ...............................................................................................................................................................................54 4.3. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES ...........................................................................................................................................................57 4.4. STATE SUPPORT FOR THE ACQUISITION OR RENTAL OF HOUSING ......................................................................66 COMMUNITY, CHILD, YOUTH AND FAMILY AFFAIRS .................................................... 69 5.1. DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITIES AND THE NON-GOVERNMENTAL SECTOR ................................................69 5 5.2. CHILD RIGHTS PROTECTION, CHILD GUARDIANSHIP (FOSTER CARE) AND ADOPTION .............................72 5.3. YOUTH POLICY .............................................................................................................................................................................82