Yoshinori Ito

In European countries, budget deficits soared in 2009 due to the global recession. Some countries plunged into sovereign debt crises and received bailouts from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. With increasing concern about the crises, and because of the austerity measures taken for deficit reduction, social spending decreased in most European countries. However, the details and extent of reductions varied across countries and areas. This paper analyses the bases for these differences by examining the characteristics of social protection systems, focusing on the ease with which they can reduce their expenditures, as well as medium - and long - term trends of European social policies that promote employment of the elderly and women and secure sustainability of social protections in response to aging. In areas of traditional social risks, some benefits that were institutionally easier to reduce were cut, but old age pensions were spared because of strong resistance. Child benefit, which is institutionally easier to reduce, was affected by the crises, because it was not promoting women's employment. Child and elderly care services suffered cuts because they are institutionally easier to reduce, especially in Southern and Eastern Europe, where female labour force participation is not a priority.