At the same time, high unemployment and demographic ageing, combined with pressures on public finances and the need to minimise spill-overs between countries ensuing from macroeconomic imbalances, have put to the fore the question of the performance of national welfare systems, from several points of view: first, as regards their adequacy and fiscal sustainability in the light of evolving social needs, including the need to address poverty; second, as regards their impact on job creation, both from an employer and a jobseeker perspective, including their capacity to make work pay and to strengthen people's skills and ability to participate fully in society; and third, an aspect which is particularly important for the euro area, as regards their capacity to buffer macroeconomic shocks and play an automatic stabilisation function.
Fl-istess waqt, ir-rata għolja ta' qgħad u t-tixjiħ demografiku, flimkien ma' pressjonijiet fuq il-finanzi pubbliċi u l-ħtieġa li jiġu mminimizzati r-riperkussjonijiet bejn il-pajjiżi li jirriżultaw minn żbilanċi makroekonomiċi, evidenzjaw il-kwistjoni tal-prestazzjoni tas-sistemi nazzjonali ta' assistenza soċjali, minn diversi aspetti: l-ewwel nett, fir-rigward tal-adegwatezza u s-sostenibbiltà fiskali tagħhom fid-dawl tal-ħtiġijiet soċjali li dejjem jevolvu, inkluża l-ħtieġa li jiġi indirizzat il-faqar; it-tieni, fir-rigward tal-impatt tagħhom fuq il-ħolqien tal-impjiegi, kemm mill-perspettiva ta' min iħaddem kif ukoll minn dik ta' min qed ifittex impjieg, inkluża l-kapaċità tagħhom li jagħmlu x-xogħol irendi u li jsaħħu l-ħiliet u l-abbiltà tal-persuni li jipparteċipaw bis-sħiħ fis-soċjetà; u t-tielet, aspett li huwa partikolarment importanti għaż-żona tal-euro, fir-rigward tal-kapaċità tagħhom li jmewtu x-xokkijiet makroekonomiċi u jkollhom funzjoni ta' stabbilizzazzjoni awtomatika.