Implementation of the EU operational program employment and social inclusion in the Slovak republic in the context of selected social indicators

Abstract

The Operational program Employment and social inclusion was implemented in the programming period 2007-2013 by the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic. The aim of the operational program was to increase employment, social inclusion and capacity building. Due to the low flexibility and efficiency of the staff in various areas of public administration, as well as the need to improve policy-making, the operational program supported activities aimed at improving human capital and activities oriented towards quality policy making. This paper analyses selected key social indicators such as employment rate, unemployment rate and people at risk of poverty or social exclusion rate in the context of the implementation. Active labor market measures are among the most effective instruments the state has to support employment and deal with the threat of poverty and social exclusion. The implementation of the operational program can be considered successful on the basis of results of realized projects and objectives achieved. The operational program helped mitigate the impact of the crisis on employment and started communitywide social and community work. As a result of the analysis, the implementation of the operational program significantly helped to increase employment, reduce unemployment rate and people at risk of poverty or social exclusion rate in Slovakia in the period of 2007-2017.