Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie wpływu priorytetów i instrumentów polityki społecznej Unii Europejskiej na realizację podejścia inwestycyjnego w politykach społecznych państw członkowskich na przykładzie Polski. Przedmiotem badań są cele społeczne Unii Europejskiej zdefiniowane w strategii Europa 2020 oraz Pakiecie Inwestycji Społecznych, implementowane za pomocą otwartej metody koordynacji i interwencji Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w państwach członkowskich Unii Europejskiej. W konkluzji stwierdzono, że proces europeizacji polityk społecznych państw członkowskich UE, na przykładzie Polski, w odniesieniu do implementacji paradygmatu inwestycyjnego, ma ograniczony charakter.

The main objective of the paper is to indicate the contribution of Social Investment paradigm and the Social Business model to the process of socioeconomic inclusion. The concept of social effectiveness and the methods of its measurement will be used to achieve the objective. Social Business is built on loans for the poorest and micro-credits for those who can afford to pay interest, however, for the banking system they remain unreliable. According to the European Social Investment paradigm, the government’s spending on social services should not be perceived as redistribution but rather conceptualized as investments that bring a return in the form of larger share in the labour market, greater employee productivity, etc. These two solutions are to support socioeconomic inclusion by combating, above all, financial exclusion defined as financial situation which involves the lack of access to the resources, goods and services, and the inability to participate in social life.

The investment approach in social policy, a response to the economic, social, and demographic changes in European countries, has its unique and intriguing interpretation in the Central European context. The article’s main aim is to identify and analyze two trends in the social policy of the EU Member States, which are coherent with the paradigm of the state of social investment. The first is the reduction of institutional support, resulting in deinstitutionalization and ceding the responsibility for care services to the family. The other trend reshaping the traditional models of social policy is the marketization of social care services provided to children and older adults. Because of their historical background, the countries analyzed, Poland and the Czech Republic, adopted the social investment paradigm, creating a unique and intriguing Central European interpretation.