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The Institute for Social Integration, in partnership with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, organized a public discussion on healthcare and labour market issues in Bulgaria. The discussion was part of the project "Let's change the mode". Within the framework of the project two analyzes were prepared – a sociological one about the working conditions and a comparative one about the health care policy in Bulgaria, which were presented at the public discussion.

"The most common violations are related to unjustified prolongation of working hours and payment under the table. In general, the Bulgarian labour market may be characterized by frequent and massive violations, low employee satisfaction, pessimism in terms of transparency and the lawfulness of labour relations as well as dissatisfaction with the amount of the remuneration" explained Stefan Georgiev, secretary of the ISI Board.

"The cheap labour cost in Bulgaria is a very painful topic for more than two generations of Bulgarians. This is the main reason for the dramatic immigration of young Bulgarians in Western and Central Europe, regardless of their education and social origin. The minimal salary in Bulgaria for 2017 was 460 BGN per month or approximately 250 dollars - 235 euros" adds Madlen Stoyanova, part of ISI team, who participated in the development of the expert analysis.

"Bulgaria is in the last place not only in Europe but also globally on how much the risks of morbidity increase, how little and ineffective the treatment is done, and the problem is not always lack of funds but rather that the funds are not spent in the right way" added Lydia Chorbanova, an expert on health care.

The forum provoked great interest from various non-governmental organizations, researchers and political representatives of local and national governments. The debate was opened by Katya Koleva, Chairman of the ISI Board and David Rinaldi, Senior Economic Policy Adviser at FEPS. Rinaldi also presented part of the results of a European labour market survey. You can find the presentation here.