Instead of short-term assistance, the DSS will help the most impoverished citizens of Serbia by providing conditions for their employment. We will motivate them to improve qualifications and find jobs, in particular through public works at national and local level. We will secure that the level of retirement pensions follows the rise of salaries, but is also protected from devaluation through changes in currency levels. The goal of the DSS is to allow all citizens a decent life, employment, social and health protection.

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The fact is that in times of economic crisis, risks from social vulnerability and social care needs increase. Persons with low education, unemployed and dependent persons, the elderly, rural dwellers and especially vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, refugees and displaced persons are at the greatest risk from poverty.

Employment programs for the most vulnerable: Direct care expenditures for the most vulnerable will be replaced with programs of employment and encouraging their business mobility by increasing their skills, motivation for job-seeking and motivation of employers to create adequate jobs. A certain number of jobs intended for these population groups must be initiated through public works at national and local levels.

Special assistance programs must be developed for persons who lose their jobs due to the effects of the economic crisis. Many of them, but also entire families are further disadvantaged by the fact that their earnings are burdened by the repayment of loans and mortgages. For such people there must be an alternative for the economic crisis should not be a cause of their tragedy. Extension of the right to unemployment benefits will be introduced as a sign of respect for social risks caused by the economic crisis.

The state cannot shift their responsibility for the social status of the citizens onto businesses and prevent layoffs with administrative measures, but is obliged to provide for more jobs to be created than closed and to this end needs to develop the appropriate instruments, while establishing an agreement between social partners about evenly taking its share in the economic crisis burden.

Pension System Reform: Reform of the pension system should not be aimed only at the short-term alleviation of problems, but must be conducted by a model that will in the middle and long term ensure safe and sufficiently high pensions. DSS believes that maintaining the current pension system based on the first (mandatory state insurance, current financing system) and third pillar (voluntary private pension insurance) is the optimal solution in the short to middle term, provided that the appropriate parametric and structural changes are made to the first pillar and to stimulate the development of the third pillar. The long-term solution to the problem of the pension system should be sought in the formation of additional funds from the state whose revenues would partially fund pensions.

DSS believes that the problem of functioning of the pension system in Serbia should be resolved by following these steps and measures:

I. General measures

• Transfer from the PIO (Pension and Insurance) Fund those allocations that are not related to pensions
• Identification and implementation of measures to turn illegal economy into legal channels
• Identification and implementation of measures for increasing the efficiency of collection of contributions
• Reducing the overall fiscal burden on wages while increasing the share of pension contributions in the total allocations for taxes and contributions from gross salaries

II Parametric and structural changes within the first pillar of the pension system (compulsory state insurance)

III The third pillar of the pension system (voluntary private insurance) is necessary to stimulate with tax alleviations

IV Establishment of a reserve fund

1.      A reserve, additional fund should be of the state and have the character of an independent state institution.

2.      The exclusive task of the fund would be, by doing business as an investment fund, to achieve the highest possible income with the least possible investment risks

3.      Sources of funds for the establishment of an additional fund should be:

• Pension contributions
• Allocations from cigarette sales
• Allocations from alcoholic beverage sales
• Allocations from fuel sales
• Shares in the present ownership of the PIO Fund
• Income from Assets

The level of pensions will be harmonized with the movement of wages, but also protected from impairment due to monetary and market changes. Funds for pension disbursement must diversify sources of funding through the capitalization of previous investments of pension funds through future investments into government securities and finance of capital infrastructure projects, in order to reduce the need for budgetary transfers. The process of opening private pension funds should be supported by explicit legal provisions, which will provide long-term redirection of the insurance burden from state funds to private.