After the fall of the socialist regime, the countries which were part of the block have had to construct institutions and create activities that didn’t exist before: this paper examines the ways in which the new welfare model is emerging in Hungary and its main features. It analyses the Hungarian social model in the light of social policy strategies pursued to confront the problems inherited from the past and those that have emerged following the process of transformation and the considerable involvement of society in the creation and management of services.only subscribers can see the full article

The paper intends to show that, as to the forging of the new welfare state, the past close to two decades of post-communist transformation has brought about Central Europe’s remarkable departure from the track of Western developments. Besides steady slowing down of economic growth since the late 1990s, a review of the key indicators of social development reveals the emergence of previously unknown fault-lines in the new social structures. it is argued that the actual reality of the post-1990 systemic transformation has brought about ever more remarkable retreats of bifurcation in provisions that have concluded, in turn, in an ever more visible disintegration in day-to-day social relations. Taking the case of Hungary, it is demonstrated that the new reforms in welfare have assisted integration into the market for the well-to-do, while the very same reforms have brought further marginalisation and social exclusion for the truly poor. only subscribers can see the full article