Unemployment insurance in Bulgaria and other East European countries: The transition to a market economy

Unemployment places those it affects in a situation of dependency on unemployment benefits. The regulation of that dependency and the measures necessary to avert it, in Bulgaria (and also in other East European countries) during the period of transition to a market economy, forms the subject of labour and social insurance legislation relating to unemployment and introduced on a temporary basis. Unemployment insurance benefits (unemployment benefits in cash, unemployment assistance, social assistance) are provided for limited periods fixed in the light of the nature of the benefit, the causes of unemployment, the number of years of service, age, gender and other factors. The degree of dependency of unemployed persons on such benefits is also determined by the level of those benefits. The principal categories of legal instruments by which that dependency can be averted or reduced are (1) contributions by the State to the establishment of labour law relationships by providing information to unemployed persons on job vacancies, vocational training and retraining measures, job creation measures and placement; (2) incentives to employers to maintain existing jobs and to create new ones (credits, exemption from interest payments, etc.).