The Labor Ministry prepared a working draft strategy to support employment growth based on reform of the labor market and the social system. „The current system can be improved, but real improvements can only be achieved by profound reconstruction,“ said Miroslav Beblavy, Labor Ministry State Secretary on Tuesday. The strategy includes all interconnected elements of social assistance, market structure, education system and also the employment service system.

According to Mr. Beblavy, the strategy to support increased employment is based on principles of fairness, transparency and support for personal initiative. In order to maintain fairness, the principle of merit should be applied in providing social support. The ministry wants to make the system of government assistance simpler, mainly in social aid and assistance for families with children. „We will decrease the number of benefits and merge some types of assistance into one, allowing two pillars of assistance to be distinguished. Under one pillar, poor people with bad living standards will be assisted and via tax allowances families with children will benefit, where the parents are working,“ said Mr. Beblavy. „Current child benefits will be significantly restricted and family assistance will be transferred to tax allowances in order to motivate families to work,“ he added. The social system, according to him, should assist people who are willing to cooperate and work to help themselves.

The strategy, to be presented by the Labor Ministry next week, according to Mr. Beblavy includes concrete drafts being developed by the ministry into draft bill formats. These new laws should be effective from next year, or at the latest from mid-2004.