Social policy, Redistribution, Social protection expenditure, Income inequality, Poverty, EU countries

The extent of social issues has an impacton current society, and ways of solving them reflect not only on social policy but also on results of economic policy. The role of social policy consists in the elimination of social problems and the attenuation of social and income inequality. Approaches of the EU member states vary, which is related to different economic capabilities and redistribution processes. The paper, in connection with the present issue, provides an analysisof expenditures on social protection by function. Using correlation analysis, the relation between expenditures on social protection on one side, and GDP per capita and income inequality on the other, are assessed using the Gini coefficient and at-risk-of-poverty rate in EU countries in years 2007-2013. The results showed that expenditures on social protection had a positive impact on socio-economic development assessed by the index of GDP per capita. By contrst, expenditures on social protection had a negative influence on the level of income inequality assessed by means of the Gini coefficient as well as the at-risk-of-poverty rate.