Stewart, Kitty 
ORCID: 0000-0001-7744-8741 and Huerta, Maria Carmen
(2009)
A share of new growth for children?: policies for the very young in non-EU Europe and the CIS.
Journal of European Social Policy, 19 (2).
pp. 160-173.
ISSN 0958-9287
Abstract
Economic collapse in the former communist bloc saw the erosion of financial support and services for young children. Since 1998 even the poorer countries of the bloc have seen a return to economic growth. But have the benefits been felt by children? Drawing on administrative and household survey data, this article examines three aspects of government support for young children – maternity benefit, child allowances and preschool provision – in four countries in different parts of the region: Bulgaria, Albania, Moldova and Tajikistan. The article concludes that these services remain vastly inadequate. In some countries child allowances are well targeted towards poorer households, but are too small in size to have an impact. Preschool overwhelmingly benefits urban families and the betteroff, while paid maternity leave is increasingly rare. Given what is known about the long-term impact of both early education and early childhood poverty, the findings are of considerable concern.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://esp.sagepub.com/ |
| Additional Information: | © 2009 SAGE Publications |
| Divisions: | Social Policy Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Dec 2009 17:25 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Dec 2024 23:30 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/26296 |
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