Assessment of Active Social Policies' Impacts on Labor Market in a Period of Transformation in Bulgarian Society

Abstract

The labor market policy in the Republic of Bulgaria in the transition period and nowadays has in different extents reflected the needs of the economy. Initially developing along with the labor market, its character is mainly preventive. Later, it includes more active programs and activities targeted at adequate answers to the changes of macroeconomic environment and periods of economic development. The anti-crisis policy in the country from 2008 till now is mostly directed to the financial stability and consolidation and strongly limits the support to employment. However, as a whole the active policy has a secondary and temporary role in employment support and could not exchange the investment activities for creation of places of work. Economic development is the determining one for demand and supply on the labor market and the balance during the periods of its development. Consideration of the peculiarities in economic development and of probable impacts on the labor market is consecutively turning into an inseparable element of the development process of labor market policies. In initial periods of labor market development its policies are mainly directed to overcoming consequences of the economic reforms on employment but now the policy is of clearly expressed active character and targeted to impacts on the processes and behavioral development in target groups according to the preliminary set goals. The functional labor market in the country is an adequate mechanism of the market environment and the conducted policy is more and more accorded to the existing dependencies and interactions between economic development and labor market.

Keywords: labor market; social policies; active social programs

JEL Classification: J00; J08; J10