Impact of COVID-19 on Human Capital in Bulgaria: Demographic and Educational Dimensions (Влияние на COVID-19 върху човешкия капитал в България: демографски и образователни измерения) - in Bulgarian

The monograph presents the results of the recently completed first in Bulgaria complex study of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on human capital in the country in demographic, family and educational plan carried out within the research program of the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The research was developed on the basis of an empirical analysis of information from official national and international statistical databases and reports of international institutions, and on a secondary analysis of the results of surveys and expert assessments in the EU and Bulgaria of the impact of the pandemic on various spheres and sectors of social and human activity. As a result of the research, short-term and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and challenges to the formation, development and preservation of human capital in Bulgaria are identified. On this basis, more important areas of intervention with a focus on education as the most significant element of human capital are determined, which require the development and implementation of relevant policies, measures and mechanisms at national and local level, necessary both to overcome the consequences of the pandemic, and with a view to more painlessly overcoming newly emerging crises.