Unemployment and the Eurozone Crisis: The State of Social Welfare in the Balkans

Abstract

This article explores the trends that define the key social welfare moments for the countries of the western Balkans. The mounting Eurozone crisis and the interdependence of economies are both important phenomena that condition the need for intervention in the labour sector of the peninsula. Indeed, the article observes that the effects of the crisis are clear and that these have had further impact on the western Balkans terrain, one that is consolidating and fragile in some respects, in ways that have produced a greater number of unemployed people. The article offers statistics for each of the western Balkans countries and analyses them against a background that requires reform. The overall purpose is directed towards an increased awareness of the state of social welfare in the western Balkans; of the interdependence that exists between the EU and the aspiring members; and, perhaps most importantly, of the strategic demand for introducing vigorous economic reforms that promote innovation and competition, boost production and strengthen democratic and accountable institutions.

Keywords: social welfare, global economic downturn, Eurozone crisis, unemployment, labour markets, reform, liberalisation

JEL Classification: G15, J6, J64, J4, H1, K42