Suzana Bornarova

The new Law on Social Protection (LSP in further text) in the Republic of North Macedonia was adopted in 2019 as part of a social reform process in line with the key strategic goals within the social protection system. The main aspects of the new regulation focus on types, procedures and realization of social protection activities, the system, organization and institutional framework of social protection, as well as cadres, financing and oversight and other issues of importance for realization of social protection. The new LSP introduced many systemic changes which are reasonably interlinked in the text and provide for unhindered accomplishment of the key ongoing processes in social protection, such as deinstitutionalization, decentralization and pluralization in social services delivery. This article aims to identify impact and challenges related to implementation of the new social legislation, with focus on delivery and financing of social services. The content of this paper is a result of an analysis conducted in 2021 based on qualitative methodological approach and application of techniques of content analysis of relevant laws, bylaws, statistical data, reports, as well as expert interviews with representatives from relevant institutions – Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Institute for Social Activities and representatives from national social service providers (public and private).  

The issue of reintegration of returning migrants in Macedonia gained increased attention with the rise in returns in the last several years, especially of Macedonian citizens illegal migrants. It has been widely recognised that an organised and systematic state response to the return migration is a key for successful reintegration of returning migrants and prevention of re-emigration and social exclusion. The pa­per elaborates the legislative, policy-making and practical challenges of reintegration of returnees in the domain of education. The focus is on: access to education for returning children at primary, secondary and ter­tiary levels of education; access to adult education for returning adults and older people; as well as obstacles for higher educational attainment and outcomes related to language barriers, extracurricular assistance and recognition of diplomas and qualifications.

The aim of the paper is twofold: to analyse to what extent the concept of “reconciliation between professional and private life” fits into the tradition and scope of the long-term care (LTC) regimes in Europe, as well as to provide insight into the challenges of working age carers in Macedonia. The initial hypothesis of the paper is to identify whether the lack of support towards carers in some of the European long-term care regimes is associated with the tradition and/or welfare ideology in which LTC systems were created. For that purpose, a com­parative analysis will be undertaken of LTC schemes in four different welfare state regimes (Esping-Andersen, 1990) i.e. in Sweden, Germa­ny, UK and Italy. The analysis will take into consideration the founding principles of the LTC regimes, welfare ideology as well as the scope of support provided to carers in the respective countries. The second part of the paper will provide insight into challenges faced by working age carers with dependent relatives in Macedonia. This country case study will provide insight into the challenges faced by the caregivers due to lack of balance between the overall package of social protection, health and employment measures. Hence, this part will try to support the evidence that in countries where labour market support of the carers’ is marginalized, carers’ are more vulnerable cat­egory, especially in relation to employment and decent living standards.