Methodology - Expenditure on social protection

Expenditure on social protection according to the ESSPROS core system 

The European System of integrated Social PROtection Statistics (ESSPROS) was developed by Eurostat in accordance with the Regulation (EC) No 458/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 April 2007 on the European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS). The ESSPROS is a common framework enabling comprehensive international comparison of administrative data on social benefits to households and their financing in the EU Member States. In the ESSPROS core system the concept of social protection is defined as all interventions from public or private bodies intended to relieve financial burden of households following from numerous risks or needs. Groups of risks and/or needs relate to respective functions of social protection of the ESSPROS system, which are established as follows: 

•  sickness/health care – income maintenance and support in cash in connection with physical or mental illness, excluding disability. Health care intended to maintain, restore or improve the health of the people protected irrespective of the origin of the disorder; 
•  disability – income maintenance and support in cash or kind (except health care) in connection with the inability of physically or mentally disabled people to engage in economic and social activities; 
•  old age – income maintenance and support in cash or kind (except health care) in connection with old age; 
•  survivors – income maintenance and support in cash or kind in connection with the death of a family member; 
•  family/children – support in cash or kind (except health care) in connection with the costs of pregnancy, childbirth and adoption, bringing up children, and caring for other family members; 
•  unemployment – income maintenance and support in cash or kind in connection with unemployment; 
•  housing – help towards the cost of housing; 
•  social exclusion not elsewhere classified – benefits in cash or kind (except health care) specifically intended to combat social exclusion where they are not covered by one of the other functions. 

Methodology of the calculation of expenditure on social protection according to the ESSPROS system differs from that applied for expenditure on social security benefits used in other tables in this chapter. 

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