In the news on radio, television and in all other media, it is often said that the state and government, to one degree or another, are pursuing social policy in the country. What is social policy?
Social policy is a set of principles, methods and methods of state influence on the social sphere of society. Social policy can be carried out both throughout the country and at the regional level. Social policy pursues many goals, the main one of which is considered to be the smoothing of social inequality in the country and the elimination of social tension by improving the quality and standard of living of the population.
Social policy includes such methods of influencing the social sphere as policy in the field of taxation, pension provision of citizens, social security and support of socially unprotected layers of citizens, tax-free single and regular payments to the population, as well as a number of others inherent in different countries, depending on their traditions and customs.
Any social policy should have its own strategy, which would have the most general principles for solving certain social problems. Social policy should have its own priorities, which, as a rule, include:
- ensuring a normal standard of living for a person from a young age to a ripe old age;
- creating optimal living conditions for families;
- ensuring the protection of all constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens;
- implementation of social protection of the population, protection of their life and health.
In the Russian Federation, the most acute social problems are:
- too large discrepancies in the level of income of various strata of citizens
- deterioration of the demographic situation in the country, “aging” of the population;
- a small number of kindergartens and schools;
- low quality of the existing housing stock.
All of the above problems are just the tip of the iceberg of the heap of problems that have accumulated since the collapse of the USSR. They can be solved only by building a competent, step-by-step and clear social policy.
