The research showed that with the beginning of economic crisis and owing to the amendments made in legislative enactments, the numbers of recipients of unemployment and sickness benefits have increased in Latvia's regions, while the number of recipients of paternity and maternity benefits has decreased. The majority of recipients of social security benefits is concentrated in the regions of Riga and Pieriga, while the smallest one in Vidzeme region. A cluster analysis showed that monocentric economic development trends were specific to Latvia, as result of which there were significant differences between the country's capital city of Riga and the rest of Latvia's regions. The economic development level in many border districts of Latvia is low; hence, the socio-economic differences increase and differences in the number of recipients of social security benefits increase in the regions of Latvia. According to the research results, there is interaction - synergy - among the number of recipients of unemployment benefits per 1000 employed individuals, the number of recipients of maternity and parental benefits per 1000 employed individuals, the economic development level of districts, as well as the distance of districts to the country's capital city. There is also a strong interaction between the number of recipients of sickness benefits per 1000 employed individuals and the number of recipients of maternity and parental benefits per 1000 employed individuals, while there is no interaction between the number of recipients of sickness benefits per 1000 employed individuals and economic activities.
