Public Investments in Children in Bulgaria
A Tool for Child-Focused Public Expenditure Measurement Institute
- Български
- English
About
Government decisions on funding education, healthcare, and social policies are crucial for children's development and well-being. Insufficient, poorly targeted, or inefficient budget allocations put all children, especially the most vulnerable, at risk of losing access to essential support and services. Article 4 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) obligates state parties to invest in children’s rights ‘to the maximum extent of their available resources’. This is not only a statutory obligation under the CRC but also a strategic economic approach for long-term sustainable development. When governments invest in children, health and education outcomes improve, incomes rise, economies grow and societies become more cohesive.
This report, commissioned by UNICEF Bulgaria, is prepared by the Institute for Market Economics and includes three parts. The first part describes the methodology for measuring public expenditure for children. The second part presents data on these expenditure in 2022 and 2023 in the main sectors – healthcare, education, and social protection, as well as other expenditure. The third part examines the funding of activities for children by municipalities, analyzing three different municipalities: Sofia, Kazanlak, and Kotel.
