SOCIAL PROTECTION OF THE UNEMPLOYED 4 SOCIAL PROTECTION OF THE UNEMPLOYED Unlike the GMI, the unemployment benefit system is financed through social security contributions levied on wage-earners. However, similar to the GMI, the generosity of unemployment benefits is linked to the ISR, which has led to a constant decline in the net level of unemployment benefits in the past decade. In addition to the decline in the generosity of the system, criteria determining eligibility for unemployment benefits have also been"streamlined" in an effort to further reduce already low levels of registration. After more than 60 legislative acts passed between 2002 and 2020 targeting the unemployment system, in its current form unemployment insurance pays meagre benefits under almost draconian eligibility criteria. Benefit levels amount to RON 375 for an unemployed person with at least one year of employment experience with the value of the benefit increasing in tandem with years of experience. The period over which benefits can be drawn is also conditional on the length of contributions paid into the social security system, with benefits being stopped in situations where the unemployed refuse offer of a job or fail to attend monthly meetings at the public employment system where they are registered. The tendency to streamline unemployment expenditures and restrict access to benefits is common across the majority of the CEE member states(Kuitto, 2016b). However, as Figures 10 and 11 below show, the consequences for generosity of benefits are much more drastic in Romania in comparison to any other country in the region. If in 2009 the net replacement rate of unemployment benefits in Romania was similar to the level in Poland, in the aftermath of the economic crisis the level of benefits in Romania has been in a free fall(see Figure 10 below). This is also evident in comparisons between unemployment benefit levels and the minimum gross wage. As Figure 11 shows, while in 2005 unemployment benefits for a worker with experience covered 76 per cent of the minimum gross wage, by 2019 the ratio stood at a mere 24 per cent. Figure 10 Net replacement rate(previous income) of unemployment benefits for a single person without children 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Romania Source: OECD Social Protection Dataset. Czechia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Poland Slovakia 13