The social quality policy: theory and international approaches in the context of the Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction task

Social Exclusion Monitoring (Australia);

Poverty and Social Exclusion Monitoring Report (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, United Kingdom);

Netherlands Social Exclusion Index; Multidimensional Characteristics of Social Exclusion (Switzerland); Global and National Multidimensional Poverty Index Methodology; Gross National Happiness Index (Bhutan)

The ordeal in any area of social exclusion involves the risk of poverty and/or social exclusion

The exclusion threshold is defined as meeting the criteria for wandering in any of the areas of social rejection; there is no calibrated assessment for multiple wandering

EU system of indicators of propensity to the risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE); German welfare assessment system (includes AROPE); in Albania, Czech Republic, and Romania, AROPE indicators are used to measure areas of social exclusion

Full social distribution in society is considered from high social integration (more resources and opportunities) to strong social exclusion (more wandering and fewer opportunities)

Established exclusion threshold.

Scores are accumulated for all areas of social exclusion and are presented on a continuum that ranges from a state of “high social integration” to a state of “strong social exclusion”

UNDP social integration index

Focus on poverty: Low-income thresholds are defined according to household composition; poverty is associated with social exclusion.

Focus on social cohesion: social exclusion is part of the definition of social cohesion.

Focus on multiple wanderings: wanderings are used as indicators of social exclusion, but there is no definition of the threshold of social exclusion

There is no definition of a specific threshold of social exclusion

Interim Report on Poverty, Inequality, and Social Exclusion (Quebec);

Low/middle-income households (United Kingdom)

European Laeken indicators

Bristol Social Exclusion Matrix, Belarusian system of indicators, Armenian system of indicators

Based on the scores for each area of social exclusion, a well-being index is calculated (value range 0-100)

There is no definition of a specific threshold of social exclusion

Canadian Index of Wellbeing (Canada)

Source: compiled by the authors according to: [19, p. 26-27].

The global practice of applying these approaches and their measurement systems varies from country to country (Table 2).

The approaches and systems for measuring social exclusion are related to the following spheres of multidimensional social inequality: life and health (unequal opportunities for people to stay alive and lead healthy lives); personal safety and security (unequal opportunities to lead lives of physical and legal security); education and learning (unequal opportunities to acquire knowledge, learn to understand and reflect, acquire skills to participate in society), financial security and decent work (unequal opportunities to achieve financial independence and security, decent and fair work, recognition of unpaid work and care for family members); comfortable, separate, and safe housing (unequal opportunities to enjoy housing that meets appropriate conditions of comfort, separation, and security); participation, influence, and voice in public life (unequal opportunities to participate in decision-making processes, to express one's voice and influence in society); personal, family, and social life (unequal opportunities for personal, family and social life, self-expression and self-esteem) as presented in Table 2 [19, p. 31].

Considering the adaptation of the UNECE approaches to measuring social exclusion to the realities of Ukraine, which since June 2022 has the status of a candidate country for EU accession, the European system of indicators of predisposition to the risk of poverty or social exclusion (At the risk of poverty or social exclusion - AROPE) mentioned in Table 2 is of particular interest. The methodological approaches of this system were taken into account by Ukraine's practice of statistical surveys, in particular, on their basis, the methodology for calculating indicators of social exclusion and the state of poverty by living conditions in Ukraine, approved by Order of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine dated December 29, 2017 No. 340 was developed . Today this methodology objectively requires updating for two reasons: firstly, because the consequences of the war will already, in the coming years, have an extreme impact on the scale of demographic losses, migration, poverty, and social quality of life in Ukraine; secondly, the European AROPE system itself was updated by the adoption of the Action Plan for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights in May 2021.

The updated European AROPE indicator system defines the statistical-economic category “people at risk of poverty or social exclusion” as the total number of people at risk of poverty after receiving social benefits, having severe material and social deprivation , or living in very low-intensity households (in other words, those where adults aged 18-59 worked no more than 20% of the time in the past year than their total labour capacity allows). In this case, individuals are at risk of poverty if their equivalent income after receiving social transfers is lower than the poverty risk threshold, which is set at 60% of the average national equivalent available income.

The severe material and social deprivation level, determined based on the AROPE indicator system, shows the proportion of the EU population forced to be deprived for at least seven of the 13 deprivation signs applied . In the overall list of deprivation signs, seven relate to basic household needs for a particular historical period and social norms, while six relate to the individual's basic needs. Basic household needs include: 1) the ability to make unplanned out-of-pocket expenses; 2) the ability to pay for a one-week annual vacation away from home; 3) the ability not to face payment arrears (mortgage, rent, loan payments, utilities); 4) the ability to afford meals with meat, chicken, fish or the vegetarian equivalent every other day; 5) the ability to maintain housing in a habitable condition; 6) access to a car for personal use; 7) the ability to replace worn-out furniture.

The basic needs of the individual include: 1) the availability of a home Internet connection; 2) the possibility of replacing worn-out clothes with new ones; 3) the availability of two pairs of properly fitting shoes (including a pair of all-weather shoes); 4) the possibility to spend a small amount of money weekly on oneself; 5) the possibility to have regular leisure time; 6) the possibility to gather with friends/family at least once a month to have a rest together. The adaptation of these indicators of the updated AROPE monitoring system to Ukraine's conditions should consider, in addition to European standards, the impact of the consequences of the war on the expansion of social exclusion parameters and the realities of the post-war development of the country.

Conclusions. The policy of social quality can be one of the most effective mechanisms of interaction between the state, business, and civil society institutions in terms of socio-economic recovery after the war, focused on the prospect of Ukraine's development as a state of general well-being.

At the same time, the concept of Social Quality adopted in the EU in the conditions of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine requires transformation and adaptation, considering the devastating consequences of the war, including the cardinal deterioration of the social quality of life of citizens, the loss of human capital and the inhibition of social development of the state.

Adapted to Ukraine's conditions, the concept of social quality and its further implementation in the system of public administration of post-war Ukraine should contribute to the rethinking of the “social contract” in the direction of gradually finding a reasonable balance between two partly contradictory priorities: simultaneously increasing efforts to systematically eliminate the threats of external aggression and accelerating economic space based on sustainable, inclusive development.

After the war, the urgent task will be to guarantee not only military but also social and demographic security, as well as to ensure Ukrainian citizens' social quality of life. This will require developing and implementing several strategic, programmatic, and legislative initiatives. Firstly, updating the national Human Development Strategy and its harmonization with the processes of reconstructive recovery of the socio-economic sphere, as well as the formation of a social quality policy, considering the consequences of the war and the post-war resource capabilities of the state, focused on achieving the goals of sustainable, inclusive development of Ukraine and convergence with EU countries. Secondly, the development and implementation of a long-term Strategy for post-war overcoming poverty and the consequences of humanitarian shocks will consider the relevant experience of post-conflict states in Europe, particularly the Western Balkans. Thirdly, revision together with ILO and post-war adaptation of the Decent Work Country Programme for Ukraine, which will include measures to overcome the poverty of workers, legalization of employment, strengthening the security of jobs in case of martial law, a combination of different forms of employment, etc.

Prospects for further research are related to the analysis of the latest EU policy and practice in ensuring social quality and the definition on this basis of general principles of post-war policy to ensure the social quality of life in Ukraine, considering new challenges in the areas of social development and employment, created by the social and humanitarian shocks of war.

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