Eurostat: social welfare spending in Europe. Italy, few funds for child benefits

“In the member states whose 2019 estimates are available, the highest social welfare spending as a proportion of the GDP is the one recorded in France (31% of the GDP), followed by Denmark (30%), Germany (29%), Italy (28%), while the lowest one was that of Malta and Latvia (both 15%) as well as Lithuania, Bulgaria and Hungary (all of them at 16%). This includes – in the figures relayed by Eurostat – healthcare and social welfare, support to old age, spending due to disability, as well as unemployment and public housing. The proportion of services for old people and “social allowances” (leaving aside the different types of services provided in each country) ranges from 38% in Germany to 58% in Italy. The proportion of illness, healthcare and disability benefits out of the total was highest in Germany (44%), the Czech Republic and Malta (both at 40%), while it was lowest in Cyprus (26%) and in Italy (28%). The proportion of child benefits out of the total ranged from 4% in Italy, 6% in Malta and 7% in Belgium, France and Cyprus to 12% in Germany and Hungary. Unemployment benefits ranged from 2% in Malta and Hungary to 6% in Belgium, France and Italy. Housing and social exclusion benefits ranged from 1% in Latvia and Bulgaria to 9% in Cyprus and 7% in Denmark.
Valentina Bombelli