Poll: Corruption and imperfect state policy hamper creation of effective social security system in Ukraine
Kyiv, August 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Almost 57% of Ukrainians believe that flawed state policy and corruption in government agencies hamper the creation of an effective and fair social security system in Ukraine, according to a survey conducted by the Social Monitoring Center and the Yaremenko Ukrainian Institute for Social Research along with the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
The results of the survey were presented at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
According to the survey, 32.4% of Ukrainians believe that an imperfect state policy hampers the creation of the social security system, 24.7% named corruption, 11.6% the unfair distribution of social benefits (large payments are received by those who do not deserve them), 10% the poor state of the economy, and 6.9% the presence of the shadow economy and tax evasion.
In addition, 68.8% of respondents believe that the state should create conditions so that the citizens themselves could ensure a decent standard of living, and 28.6% think that the state should provide all citizens with a decent standard of living.
Director of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko, while commenting on this figure, described as a problem the fact that there is a stereotype in Ukrainian society regarding the role of the state in ensuring the standard of living of citizens.
"We still have a stereotype that the state should be responsible for everything. And it overlaps another stereotype that the state is not only responsible for everything, but also guilty of everything," the expert said, adding that this was related to the "phenomenon of distrust" in the government, which is inherent to Ukrainians.
He said that against this background, even good and right government initiatives can be seen as something bad and antinational.
According to the survey, 74% of respondents believe that people should have equal rights, but the financial level should depend on labor and skills. Some 22.5% of respondents agreed with the statement that "there should be no rich and poor in Ukraine." The study showed that the ways of establishing social justice are the most controversial opinion in society.
"On the one hand, 74% of respondents agree that the financial condition should correspond to labor and human abilities. On the other hand, over 40% said they would like the government to redistribute income to the poor at the expense of the rich," Head of the Yaremenko Ukrainian Institute for Social Research Olha Balakireva said.
She said that these figures suggest that there currently remains a powerful demand for paternalism in Ukrainian society, but at the same time and there is an understanding of the fact that people have to do something for themselves and that the state should create conditions for citizens in the sphere of ensuring a decent standard of living.
The study showed that 68.2% of respondents believe that today many people manage to receive benefits and services to which they have no legal right. Most Ukrainians (71.1%) also believe that in a situation with limited budget funds the state should support able-bodied citizens by raising wages and creating jobs, and 23.9% think that it is necessary to support the disabled and low-income people, with 5% of respondents being undecided.
The survey was conducted in June 2013. A total of 2,008 respondents aged over 18 from all regions in Ukraine were interviewed. The poll's margin of error does not exceed 2.24%.