The interesting question is how the welfare states can cope with the long-term developmental challenges which imply demands for social expenditure when facing the permanent austerity fiscal requirements, recently augmented by the financial and economic crisis. Can be social investment strategy a solution ? This paper explores to what extent the social investment strategy has been adopted in the Czech Republic during the crisis and beyond. The following policy fields the most relevant to social investments are considered : education, active labour market policies/activation, early education and child care, family support (minimum income protection to families including) and housing. The findings show that the EU 2013 Social investment package has had no influence on the policy discourse. Nevertheless, in spite of fiscal consolidation and cuts in expenditure there have appeared some indications of the change in approach towards social investment strategy. The ‘productivist’ expectations, EU pressures and possibilities given by EU funding, as well as domestic political changes have been the factors behind.