Sharing the pie in CEE: Welcome to the Welfare and Inequality section

The transitions that took place in the postcommunist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) brought about significant changes in all aspects of these societies and in the lives of the people living in them. Yet the challenges and struggles of transition were not evenly distributed. Here is a space for reflection on welfare in the societies of CEE. Among other questions, we will ask:
• Which groups and people face substantial welfare struggles?
• What approaches improve welfare and who benefits?
• What is the state’s role in welfare provision in these societies and amidst these struggles?
• What are the welfare issues that matter today in the societies of CEE?


The transitions that took place in the postcommunist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) brought about significant changes in all aspects of these societies and in the lives of the people living in them. Yet the challenges and struggles of transition were not evenly distributed. Here is a space for reflection on welfare in the societies of CEE. Among other questions, we will ask:
• Which groups and people face substantial welfare struggles?
• What approaches improve welfare and who benefits?
• What is the state’s role in welfare provision in these societies and amidst these struggles?
• What are the welfare issues that matter today in the societies of CEE?

For some, the struggles of transition inspired an incomplete, but nevertheless real nostalgia for the old system. This type of nostalgia can be seen in this quotation from a Romani woman from a village in Western Ukraine: “In the old system, we had money, but there was no bread to buy. Now the store shelves are filled with bread, but we have no money to buy it.” The questions re-emerge:
• Who can and cannot afford ‘bread’ in the new system?
• How can more ‘bread’ be provided or how can the ‘bread’ be distributed differently?
• What is the state’s role as a provider of ‘bread’?

In some ways, the struggles causing and caused by poverty and inequality are similar around the world, from the most developed to the least developed countries. In other ways, the struggles and approaches to poverty are unique to their context. The historical legacies from pre-communist and communist times create distinct perspectives of and approaches to poverty and inequality. For example, the role of the state in the previous system sets expectations and limitations for the role of the state in contemporary society. The political and economic dynamics of transition present unique challenges for poverty and unique conditions for welfare provision. Decisions made in transition do matter, whether those decisions were made by domestic politicians, international advisors, voting citizens, or others. This blog looks at issues of poverty and inequality in CEE with a particular emphasis on how the state’s involvement in these issues matters and varies from country to country. The key question is: who decides and what determines outcomes of poverty and inequality in CEE?

By looking at the faces of poverty and inequality in this region, reviewing publications and reports on these topics, and accessing the current debates about welfare reform in various countries in CEE, we will have a glimpse the great social struggles that remain in these societies and the various proposed solutions.

Kristin Nickel Makszin
nickel_kristin@phd.ceu.hu