The minister spoke at the opening ceremony of the international conference on poverty reduction held in Vilnius and introduced the implemented and planned measures on the reduction of social exclusion. Pabedinskiene also informed about the created social model that includes boosting employment, developing the regulation on labour relations and the sustainability of social insurance.
"The reduction of poverty calls for substantial, complex solutions as poverty and social exclusion is a complicated occurrence that cannot be overcome only with the help of social security measures. It is a highly relevant issue especially as the new European Union structural fund financial support period begins. The reduction of poverty and social exclusion is not a one-off action but a process in which every member of the public has to participate and assume responsibility seeking for results," Social Security Minister Pabedinskiene said.
Based on the data of Statistics Lithuania, more than 600,000 Lithuanians lived below the poverty threshold in 2013. According to the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, as much as 917,000 Lithuanians face poverty or social exclusion in Lithuania. By 2020 the indicator is hoped to be reduced to 11%.
