The article contains suggestions for changes in family allowances for children and the material support of insured and uninsured parents / adopters in pregnancy, childbirth and child care, incl. of children with permanent disabilities. The proposals are aimed at solving identified problems and are supported by data from a national representative sociological survey. A financial assessment of the necessary budgetary resources for the implementation of the measures in this area is also presented.

During the last three decades, international migration is a key factor in the demographic development of Bulgaria. Even though its impact decreases in the last few years, it still continues to reduce the Bulgarian population, and, through its selective functions, to introduce significant negative changes in important structures of the population, which are vital for its reproduction and labour power. It is crucial for the implementation of a certain migration policy not only to determine the scales of the migration flows in and out of the country, but also to study the people’s attitude to emigrate; the conditions and drivers that cause the migration processes, and the associated effects and changes in their scale and composition; people’s attitude toward Bulgarian and foreign migrants; other elements in the general migration behaviour. These and other issues are the subject of this paper. The current analysis is based on empirical data from the “Migration and national identity” survey, which was conducted in May 2018.

This article is aimed at pointing out the significance and the place of the professional education level of economically active population in modern society. Education and qualifications today turn to become factors attracting increasingly greater attention. The status of national economy and labour market have direct relations with the levels of knowledge, skills and qualifications of economically active persons and to the changes in these. In the same time effective using and distribution of available human resources, of their knowledge and skills is needed as well as improving of the educational and professional training of the population which is a main priority in all EC documents. Results of the analysis and evaluation of the trends in the professional and educational structures of registered unemployed aged to 24 are considered in the article. Size and structures of students in the mainstream and professional schools as well as the reasons for children dropping out of the education system are analyzed.

The decrease in the labor force as a result of the on-going demographic processes of decrease in the natural growth rate of the population and the sustainable emigration raises a series of questions about the possibilities to achieve better balancing of the demand and supply for labor through restructuring of employment. The goal of the study is to conduct an immediate situational analysis of the opinions of the main “players” in the investment process in order to examine, analyze and assess the investment environment and the stimuli for creating more jobs in sectors and activities with higher added value. The main thesis is that creating more jobs with higher productivity of labor and higher wages could be a successful policy for better balancing of the demand and supply of labor, for compensation of the shortage of labor force and for improvement of its quality. The better working conditions and the higher wages are prerequisites for improving the quality of life, which is an important condition for stimulating the reproduction of the population and for decreasing emigration intentions. The study presents economic arguments for the need for more active stimulation of the investments in economic activities and sectors that create higher added value on the basis of an analysis of various aspects of the structure of the economy; created added value; employed labor force; share of highly technological exports in total export and others. The analysis indicates that the dynamic of job creation in sectors that generate added value is not sufficient, which also conditions the lagging behind of the country in a series of indicators for science intensity and innovation in the European space. These conclusions are supplemented by the results from in-depth interviews, conducted with representatives of branch organizations, employers, local authorities and national institutions, which focused on the conditions and stimuli for investment in sectors and activities with high value added. The summary of the voiced opinions and assessments allows for the synthesis of key aspects of policies that encourage the improvement of the environment and stimulate the creation of workplaces in sectors and activities that create higher value added. JEL: J2, J4, L1, L2.

The aim of this research is building up a concept in Bulgarian legislation during the period of 1878 – 1912 concerning one of the major tendencies in our migration politics, and namely the one which has to do with territorial redistribution of the population of the country. The major conclusion of the analysis made is that, although gradually, this concept is becoming crucial in the migration politics, carried out during the analyzed period in our lands.

At the end of XX and the beginning of XXI century Bulgarian society is becoming more strongly influenced by Western culture. As a result, the attitude regarding education, work and family face the challenges of growing globalization processes. The paper focuses on young Bulgarians and their life transitions to adulthood. Based on a set of stratification characteristics (gender, education, ethnicity and place of residence), the paper analyzes four age groups of young Bulgarians and their attitudes to the life events of the youth phase. The data used are from the 9th wave of The European social survey (ESS9-2018). This paper aims to trace the diversity in youth perceptions and to summarize new trends in the life trajectories followed by young people in Bulgaria. The analysis confirms the transformation of values and demographic profile of Bulgaria in the last few decades. Marriage and parenting as central events for the youth phase are increasingly competing with other life choices. New and increasingly individualized lifestyles are established. Young Bulgarians are more likely to postpone their lasting commitment to a partner and the creation of generation. However, the decision for own family and children rather precedes the readiness for greater autonomy and independence from parental home and family.