Abstract. Social protection is one of the many social policy interventions that can contribute to achieving the overall goal of poverty reduction, also having a significant economic and social impact. This article mainly aims to examine how social protection systems address certain societal issues in order to contribute to the general well-being. Also, using a panel data model, our paper measure the impact of social protection expenditures, economic growth and income inequality on poverty rate among five Central and Eastern European countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.

Keywords: social policy, economic growth, income inequalities, poverty.