EU spending on welfare spiked in 2023

(CN) — Preliminary data released Monday by the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat shows the bloc doubled down its commitment to social welfare, having poured a staggering nearly $4.8 billion into its social safety nets in 2023 — a 6.1% jump from the previous year.

Notably, the chunk of change spent on social protection programs made up more than a quarter of the EU’s economy.

France led the pack in the social spending uptick, splashing out a jaw-dropping 31.3% of its GDP on social welfare. Finland trailed right behind with 31.2% and Austria at 29.7%. Ireland spent the least on social programs with comparatively meager 12% of its GDP going to them, followed closely by Malta at 13.2% and Estonia at 15.3%.

Several Eastern European nations recorded the largest increases in social spending since 2022. Slovakia soared up 18.9%, followed by Poland with an increase of 18.4%, and Hungary with an increase of 15.2%.

Denmark, Italy and Estonia, registered the smallest increases — jumping 2.3%, 3.5% and 3.8%, respectively.

According to Eurostat, the mainstay of social spending across all EU countries involved benefits for seniors and health care. Smaller social spending categories included disability, survivor, children and family, unemployment and housing.

The U.S. spent more than $3 trillion on social programs in 2023 – putting $1.6 trillion into Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and $1.4 trillion into Social Security. With a GDP of nearly $27.4 trillion in 2023, the U.S. spending on its social safety nets amounted to just under 11% — less than the EU’s lowest.

The Covid-19 pandemic drew attention to how different approaches to social safety between the United States and Europe affect citizens — Europe leaned on existing social programming while the U.S. depended on Congress to pass emergency stimulus packages.