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This paper examines the financial development of the Republic of Croatia as measured by the dimensions of financialization, financial deepening and financial inclusion through interaction with two dimensions of social exclusion, such as income inequality and at-risk-of-poverty rates. The aim of the paper is to determine how financialization, financial deepening and inclusion affect income inequality and the risk of poverty. In terms of financialization, research has shown that the development of the overall financial sector relative to GDP reduces income inequality and at-risk-of-poverty rates, while the growth of banking sector assets relative to GDP increases income inequality and at-risk-of-poverty. With financial deepening, the share of corporate loans in GDP has been shown to increase income inequality and the at-risk-of-poverty rate, while loans to households are not significant for inequality, but therefore reduce the at-risk-of-poverty rate. The share of household loans in GDP is not significant for income inequality, but it reduces the at-risk-of-poverty rate. The financial inclusion of households has shown that the three groups of loans (transaction account overdrafts, cash and other loans) depend on the level of inequality and that the opposite causality operates. While cash loans reduce the at-risk-of-poverty rate, the at-risk-of-poverty rate as an inverse causality affects transaction account overdrafts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a research on the availability of social rights and services for families in the municipalities in rural areas of Croatia. Specifically, three research questions were raised: 1) to determine the availability of certain social rights and services for families, 2) to determine whether there are differences in accessibility with regard to regional affiliation and developmental characteristics of the municipality, and 3) to determine whether there are differences in the quality standards of social rights and services given the regional affiliation and the developmental characteristics of the municipality. Data were collected through a web survey with representatives of 215 municipalities. Social rights are more available to families than social services. The most available rights and services are those promoted by the central government. Municipalities in the Pannonian region, as the least developed ones, have the most available social rights and the least available social services. Rights and services are more available in municipalities closer to the county centers. As regards the quality standards of social rights and services, the population is sufficiently informed and involved in planning, while the use of EU funds and civil society involvement are less developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides some key research findings from the Civicus Civil Society Index Project in Croatia, which was implemented from 2008 to 2010, as a part of an international comparative research project. This was the third wave of the research project, after a pilot in 2001 and the following phase from 2003 to 2005. State of civil society in this paper is analysed in four dimensions: level of organizations, values, perceived impact and environment, which are integral parts of the "Civil Society Diamond" -- one of the best known components of this project. The research findings are put in a dynamic context, compared to the previous two research phases, thus enabling tracing of particular indicators and dimensions of civil society in a developmental perspective. Dimensions of level of organizations, that is civil society infrastructure, and that of environment have obtained the greatest score in this research. Moreover, the dimension of environment shows the greatest increase in the observed time period. We can talk about development of civil society in Croatia, especially in the following aspects: sectoral cooperation and networking, new possibilities of financing, the strengthened role of civil society as a co-governor in certain policy fields, the role of civil society organizations in meeting social needs where public services are lacking. On the other hand, unsustainable employment in civil society organizations, undue interference of the State in civil society's activities, perceived corruption in civil society organizations and generally low levels of trust in society are shown to be permanent challenges for development of civil society in Croatia. The research also recognized multiple effect of the economic crisis on civil society, most notably in the decreased financing of civil society organizations and therefore weakening of human capital in organizations, and on the other hand, by leading to greater passivity of citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing population is one of the demographic processes typical for contemporary society. Both nations and organizations should therefore recognize the significance of age management, in other words, of taking care and empowering older employees to add value. The paper deals with age management concept both on theoretical and empirical level. In the theoretical part, age management is explored through definition, stimuli, participants and activities of age management, as well as explication of early retirement factors. Empirical part of the paper presents research results about the potential early retirement factors of 182 respondents. At the end of the paper, based on both theoretical and empirical findings, athe model for effective age management in Croatian organizations is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the theoretical and empirical framework of the debate on widening participation in higher education and explores to what extent the lessons learnt in this field have been applied in the field of public policy. Widening participation is based on the assumption that the probability of entering and successfully completing higher education is contingent on a complex range of social, economic and cultural characteristics of potential students, and that the measures aimed at widening participation must acknowledge the multi-faceted nature of inequities in education. In this context, this paper analyses the extent to which international stakeholders in higher education acknowledge widening participation as a priority. Special attention is given to the question of whether their policy documents take into account the results and implications of empirical research in this field. Finally, the paper assesses the potential impact of these documents on the debate on this topic in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One's socio-economic status affects almost every aspect of his/hers life, including education. The main objective of this paper is to determine the relationship between familial socioeconomic status and students' educational achievement. The paper is based on the OECD - PISA international study carried out in Croatia in 2006 on the sample of 5 209 15-year-old students involved in secondary education. Students' results in scientific literacy, as well as variables and indices constructed by OECD, were used in analyses. The distributions of selected variables linked to socio-economic status definition, such as parental education, monthly household income, educational expenses and home educational resources are presented, as well as their regional differences. Multiple regression analysis proved the relationship between socioeconomic factors and students' science test accomplishment. Regression model which includes three indices (Highest International Socioeconomic Index of Occupational Status, Index of home educational resources and Index of cultural possessions) and four variables (average monthly household income, average monthly educational expenses, household book number and highest educational status of parents) explain 23 per cent of the total variance of students `achievement in scientific literacy. The second regression model with the region of residence additionally contributes to variance explanation by 1 per cent, indicating significant relation between living in specific Croatian region and science achievement. The main conclusion of this paper is that socio-economic status (along with the region of residence) represents a significant predictor of the educational achievement, and that it is relevant in analyses and interpretations of PISA results, even though Croatia could use an adaptation of PISA indices in order to trustworthy represent the data. It is advisable to continuously analyse the test results and, besides some general indicators of educational success, such as educational system, teacher qualifications and school infrastructure, also to consider the effect of students' socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the reflections on the problems involved in the measurement of the quality of health care services. It presents theoretical contributions to a study of specifi c characteristics of services marketing in health care, including a review of the results of a previous research which measured customer satisfaction with health care services. Special attention is devoted to a presentation of the most frequently used model of service quality measurement or SERVQUAL, which is also widely used for measuring the service quality within health care. The paper presents the results of a research of the quality of health care services provided by primary health care institutions in the City of Zagreb and the Zagreb County (with a special emphasis on public sector health care institutions) by using the SERVQUAL scale. The research focuses on the extent to which the Croatian customers use the services of the public sector vas. those of private sector primary health care institutions. It attempts to determine the importance paid to individual dimensions of service quality and to find out whether there are any significant gaps between the perceptions by customers and their expectations of the quality of services provided by primary health care institutions. The results revealed a significant gap between the perceptions and expectations by health care service users, while showing that the gap varies according to different dimensions of service quality. The management of public sector primary health care institutions ought to improve their service according to all dimensions of service quality. At the same time, they should pay particular attention to the dimensions where this gap was found to be the largest, i.e. »responsiveness«, »assurance« and »reliability«. No connection was established between the size of the measured gap as far as any individual service quality dimension is concerned, and the significance of that particular dimension for service users as compared to other dimensions. The paper may prompt the management and employees of health care institutions to conduct further measuring of their service quality in the future so as to identify the elements which must be improved in order to enhance customer satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is the result of an action-oriented empirical research about the role, development and achievements of foundations n Croatia. As a background for empirical research, the secondary sources were analysed, as well as the results of previous research studies on the development of foundations in Croatia. The theoretical analytical framework of the development of foundations in Croatia is connected with the contemporary typology of the role of foundations and the social model of the development of foundations. This paper also outlines the developmental problems and achievements of foundations in some transitional countries. The aims of the research are to contribute to a better understanding of the environment for the development of foundations in Croatia, to explain the role and vision of the development of foundations, to estimate strengths and weaknesses of foundations and to stimulate a discussion about the role of foundations in the development of Croatia. The data on foundations were collected through a mail survey and case studies. The results of the research mainly speak of the development and the increase in the number of foundations in Croatia that mostly play a complementary role. To a smaller extent, foundations appear as innovators. The results of the research indicate a peripheral social model of the development of foundations. Scholarship foundations and foundations in the area of social welfare are dominant. Foundations encounter problems in raising funds to increase their basic assets. They are mainly managed on volunteer basis, and the state does not appear as a partner in the development of foundations. The development of foundations in Croatia will largely depend on the economic progress and new middle classes that will be more concerned about social problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the paper are to: 1) estimate the number of elderly persons who do not receive pensions, 2) analyse their social, demographic and family characteristics, 3) analyse and compare some indicators of the quality of life of elderly persons without pensions to the indicators of the quality of life of elderly retired persons, 4) analyse the structure of income and the role of the social welfare transfers in the households in which elderly persons who do not receive pensions live, and 5) discuss the models of social protection for elderly persons without pensions. The source of the data was the European Research on Quality of Life, conducted in Croatia by the UNDP in 2006. For the purposes of this paper, a representative sub-sample of persons over the age of 64 was singled out (1,661 respondent). According to estimates, 12.4% of elderly persons in Croatia do not receive pensions. Over 95% of all elderly persons without pensions are women. The median of the equivalent household income of elderly persons without pensions is twice lower than the median of the household income of elderly retired persons. Also, elderly persons without pensions generally have poorer indicators of the quality of life than the elderly pensioners. Elderly persons without pensions who live in single households are in the most unfavourable economic position. These are the persons who most frequently receive social assistance. Advantages and disadvantages of social pensions and social assistance as an alternative in social protection of elderly population without pensions are analysed. Social pensions in Croatia based on the means testing are more acceptable from the fiscal and political standpoint than universal social pensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analytically investigates the system of social transfers in Croatia and evaluates their impact on reducing poverty and economic inequality in Croatia. In the theoretical part of the paper, recent results from the economic research studies about the new role of social expenditure and social transfers in the new environment are presented. The survey of recent literature questions the view of some schools of the economic thoughts about the role of social expenditure, that claim that social expenditure is not productive and jeopardizes economic development. The research results show that the Croatian system of social transfers is contributing to both poverty and economic inequality reduction in Croatia, but the efficiency of the system is slightly below European average. The conclusion is that there is a space for improvement regarding the efficiency of the social transfer system. The best-rated transfers regarding their contribution to poverty reduction are social assistance and family pensions. However, the social assistance level and the coverage rate of the poor receiving social assistance in Croatia are low. That fact and the efficiency problems in the social transfer system partially explain why the process of relatively intense economic development in Croatia over the last decade has not contributed to the increase of material well being of the poor in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the introductory part of the paper, the author considers the challenges of the process of reintegration of war veterans into peacetime and civilian life. The author emphasises that the key prerequisite for a successful reintegration is the improvement of the employment level of the veteran population. The consequences of the Homeland War, and the characteristics of the aid programme for war veterans in Croatia and in other countries are briefly y outlined. The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the rights of the Homeland War veterans and their family members, and the data on the number of users and the expenses for certain rights in the period from 2002 until 2006. The defenders make a relatively numerous groups in the overall Croatian population, even in comparison to the military powers such as the USA. Comparatively viewed, the Republic of Croatia intended a wide sphere of rights for its defenders, and these rights range over almost all social security systems, but they stretch even beyond that. The data show that there is a constant growth in the number of the users of certain rights, but also of the expenses related to that. A large and constant growth of the users of the right of the disability allowance and a large number of unemployed defenders are particularly worrying. Despite large expenses for the housing allocation, numerous requests remain unsolved, and will represent a problem that the governments will have to deal with for a long time. Finally, the author warns about the lack of evaluation of the existing aid programmes, as well as on the need to redirect the welfare systems for the defenders from mainly compensatory measures to the development of various integration programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text is the result of years-long research on the role of nonprofit housing organizations in housing policies, and on the opportunities for their development in Croatia. A part of the research that refers to the Croatian circumstances has the characteristics of an oriented research. The first part of the paper analyses the development and the role of nonprofit housing organizations in the developed countries. The author warns about the various typologies of these organizations, their hybrid and intermediary character, and meeting the housing needs of different social groups. The marked role of nonprofit housing organizations in Austria and Ireland provides a broader insight into the accomplishments of these organizations in housing policies with different traditions. Nonprofit housing organizations appear as important participants of social policies in transitional countries. Housing co-operatives as nonprofit housing organizations have a certain tradition in Croatia. Towards the end of the 1990s, they played a recognisable role in meeting the housing needs. In the beginning of the 1990s, the state withdrew from housing policy, and housing co-operatives lost their former privileges. Besides, a part of housing co-operatives show that they can offer lower housing prices and housing of more quality on the housing market. Recent government measures indicate unsustainability of housing programmes conducted from above, and underhandedly provide an opportunity for the development of nonprofi t housing organizations. The paper analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the development of the concept of nonprofi t housing organizations, and refers to the research that could provide new arguments in favour of the development of housing co-operatives as intermediary organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the development of Croatian health policy from the second half of the 19th century until the end of 2006, focusing on the period of post-socialist transition. The analysis relies on three basic elements: the outline of crucial laws and reforms (that shape the policy), the analysis of social effects of the health system (key health indicators, costs of the system and the rights of insured persons) and the analysis of social circumstances and key actors of the health policy of Croatia. It shows that a series of reforms (particularly frequent in the transition period) failed to address the crucial issues of financing, accessibility and quality of the health protection, although such actions managed to cope with the most acute financial problems in the short run. The analysis also shows that a series of health indicators does not provide a unambigous picture of the health system of Croatia. It is possible to identify those that speak of the favourable, but also of the unfavourable aspects of the health protection. The end of the paper urges for development of a public and professional discussion by pointing out both to complexity of the health system and to the social context in which it operates. Such a discussion could help to solve at least some of the dilemmas of the future development of the health policy of Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the results of the CIVICUS research Civil Society Index in Croatia, conducted in 2004 and 2005, the paper discusses to what extent is civil society becoming a relevant social force. The condition and possibilities of civil society are presented through the analysis of four key dimensions shown through the civil society diamond: the structure, the environment, values and impact. Some of important sub-dimensions of civil society, such as the extents of civic participation, donations to charity, actions in the community, the co-operation between the state and civil society, the values-led framework of action and so on are discussed in more detail thereinafter. Basic strengths and weaknesses of civil society are summed up in the end of the paper, and necessary social actions, as well as the possible directions of further research studies, are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the projections of the overall number of inhabitants for the period up to 2031. Based on the set hypotheses on future trends of fertility, mortality and external migrations, the projections have been calculated in three variants. In all three analysed variants, the hypotheses regarding mortality are identical. Fertility hypotheses have been made in the variants of decreasing and increasing fertility. The hypothesis on mild annual positive balance of migrations has been set in one of the variants. Since the projected period in question is relatively short, different fertility hypotheses have a relatively low influence on the population trend in the work contingent. Only with the assumed positive migration balance would a part of decrease in the population growth in the work contingent up to 2031 be compensated. The central part of this paper presents a projection of the trends in the number of retired persons and active insured persons in Croatia up to 2031. Based on the age structure of retired persons in 2001 and the set hypotheses on the future influx of pensioners, the trend of the number of retired persons has been projected up to 2031. It has to be emphasised that the Croatian Institute for Pension Insurance does not dispose of the complete registry of all potential pension users who reside outside Croatia (displaced Serbs, persons who have left abroad to work temporarily…) In such circumstances, a potential »immigration« into the projected number of retired persons in Croatia has been estimated. In accordance with the expected changes in the economic structure of the population in European countries up to 2031, the hypothesis has been set in three variants of the rate of the economic activity of the work contingent. Thus the projected number of potential active insured persons in Croatia was obtained, as well as the ratio between them and the number of retired persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the need for measures of the Zagreb Strategy of Uniform Policy for Disabled Persons (hereafter: the Zagreb Strategy), the manner of introducing these measures and their realisation in the period from 2003. to 2006. The introductory part of the paper briefly provides basic definitions, historical review of the attitude of society towards disabled persons, a survey of contemporary concepts, approaches and models of protection of this part of the population, as well as the basic characteristics of the disabled persons in the area of the city of Zagreb. The realisation of the Zagreb Strategy measures is considered through the results of the research of the rights of the disabled persons according to the international organisations' methodology, i.e. based on the standardised survey for the analysis of the index of respecting rights of the disabled persons. Since the comparative results of the research prior to the implementation of the Zagreb Strategy and after a half of the period of its validity have been presented, they can be regarded as a pragmatic account of the real situation, because they show how far has the application of the program of action towards the disabled persons in the City of Zagreb gone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper gives the overview of the history of charity and social work carried out by women on the Croatian territory from the end of the 19th century until World War II. It describes socio-economic preconditions for the entrance of women into the public sphere, where they found the prolongation of their traditional role of caregivers in charity work. In the end of the 19th century, the upper class members were active in charity, humanitarian and cultural work organised in ladies' societies. Later on, women's organisations gradually became more democratic and narrowed their scope. The second part of the paper presents the results of the research based on the archival materials on some of the first forms of modern social work. The Friends of Young Girls (1927-1947) was a civil organisation based on feminist principles, with the aim of fighting against prostitution. In co-operation with the international federations of Friends of Young Girls and similar civil initiatives in Croatia, they tried to apply social work methods with their clients, primarily prevention, counselling, support and education. The first professional social workers employed by the municipal authorities of Zagreb were nurse aides and teachers of city shelters for children. These two groups had different training and working conditions, and therefore the level of their professional identity was also different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the author starts from the constitutional and international-law obligation of the state to ensure a dignified life and guaranteed life standard to children in case of the lack of family-law support. The paper presents the measures of the family law and social security law which are envisioned de lege lata in the Republic of Croatia as the substitutes in case of the lack of family-law support of the children, as well as their conceptual division. In some European countries, the problem of the parental failure to pay the support is solved through the payment of the advance from specially established funds. The institute of advance for the support is comparatively presented in the paper, and based on the described European solutions and referring to the Council of Europe Recommendation on the Advance for the Support, a de lege ferenda solution is offered for the Republic of Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The text is dedicated to the description of activities on economic recovery in Croatia, with particular attention to the labour market. Most important trends and determinants of employment and unemployment in the last five years are analysed with the goal to get an insight into their impact and possible improvement. While Decision on economic recovery and development prepared by the Government of Croatia is mentioned, the authors do not attempt to provide its final evaluation because this is a topic for some new survey. The paper consists of four sections. In Section 1 the economic situation in Croatia in the period from 2005 to 2007 is explained as the one characterized by a significant annual growth of gross domestic product, while in 2008 economic activity started decelerating as a consequence of the global economic crisis. Section 2 explains the impact of the crisis on the labour market. While unemployment decreased in pre-crisis period, since 2008 there has been a constant decrease in the number of the employed and an increase in the number of the unemployed. Croatia has a relatively low activity and employment rate, particularly for women, youth and older persons. Policy responses to the crisis are the topic of the Section 3, which focuses on economic and social policies, as well as labour market policies. The final section deals with the issues of further economic development of Croatia, primarily with priorities in employment policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual responsibility and private savings for retirement are becoming increasingly important for the adequate financing of living standards in the third age. However, in order to invest in private forms of retirement savings, working age individuals should be sufficiently pension literate or informed. In this paper researchers examine the differences between pension literate and illiterate participants, as well as the link between pension (il) literacy and various types of private savings for the third age on a representative sample of active population in Croatia. Pension illiterate group makes more than a half of the active working population in Croatia. When compared to pension literate active population, they are statistically significantly different according to certain demographic characteristics, attitudes and beliefs, as well as behaviors and intentions towards savings for the old age. One of the most important findings is that the pension literacy is an important predictor of non-traditional types of savings, indicating that the pension literacy may represent a significant boost to private savings for retirement. In addition to pension literacy, a significant predictor of all types of private savings is the attitude towards a specific type of savings. This implies that raising measured elements of attitude, such as trust towards the specific type of savings for the third age and its perceived appropriateness, is another possible way to encourage private savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for the higher education process to be economically efficient, together with the need for equity and equality in access to higher education services for everyone represents the starting point of this paper. The analysis was conducted using data from a survey on a random sample of young people who recently finished their education using three criterion variables: completion of the study, study success, and the speed of study completion. These variables were chosen because all three individually and in total indicate the efficiency of the process of higher education, but taken together with the data about students and their form of study, other costs of study, family socio-economic background, and eligibility for indirect state financial assistance, also indicate the problems of equality in access to public higher education in Croatia. The obtained results show that the chances for completion of the study are primarily related to the socio-economic status of students. Completion is especially low for students from lower socio-economic strata who do not pay tuition fee, which suggests that the existing instruments of financial aid for non-academic costs are not sufficient for this group. The speed of study completion is primarily influenced by the costs students have to pay for tuition, lower socio-economic status of the students, and eligibility for financial aid conditioned by the dynamics of the study (scholarships). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Similar to many European Union (EU) countries, higher education in Croatia is traditionally characterized by a high-level government support for financing academic and non-academic services. However, private-sector financial contributions are becoming increasingly important in higher education financing. Models of higher education financing in European countries differ according to the share of funding allocated by the private sector to higher education. Indirect government support to student standard through subsidies for accommodation, meals and other services, as well as scholarships and student loans are part of the country's social policy. The main goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the EU practices in supporting higher education, and to analyze types and levels of financial supports for students in Croatia. Having in mind that there is a lack of relevant data which would enable a deeper comparative analysis of the Croatian model of higher education financial supports in comparison/ with respect to other EU countries, in the conclusion we identify the prerequisites for this topic's future analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the characteristics and development of the Croatian Journal of Social Policy during its fifteen years of continuous publication with regard to the following features: the dynamics of publication, the role of the editorial board, the share of specifi c categories of contributions, authorship and language and the journal's presence on the network. Selected bibliometric indicators and the content analysis method were used for the aforementioned analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the author compares the legislation that regulates the Croatian pension insurance system with the obligations from acquis communitaire in the context of the harmonisation of the legislation in the process of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union (EU). The author is not merely limited to the formal adjustment of the Croatian legislation with acquis communitaire, but also questions the adjustment of the Croatian pension system with the European social model which is applied in the pension system area, and which derives from acquis communitaire, as well as the practice in Western European countries. In the concluding part, the author determined the adjustment of the legislation that regulates the Croatian pension system with acquis communitaire, but also points out that a part of this system is not adjusted to the European social model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proclaimed gender equality and legal regulation in the area of labour market have yet to yield satisfactory results for unemployed women. During job interviews, women are subjected to some forms of discrimination that should have been put behind us, both according to the legal system in force and according to the social practice of the EU. However, it seems that this is not the case, at least according to the results of the 2007 research on the sample of unemployed women in Croatia. These results show that the practice of gender discrimination of women during hiring and later employment persists, thus hindering many unemployed women the possibility of a truly equal access to employment, and without resolving their already threatened existential conditions. The paper presents some of the research results that show certain elements of gender discrimination at the labour market in Croatia, analysing some important issues of gender equality and equal employment opportunities of unemployed women in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Croatia funded the project The Right to Live in a Community: Social Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities. This paper presents a section of the results from the study Determining the Readiness for Employment of Persons with Disabilities, which is part of the aforementioned project. A total of 85 unemployed persons with intellectual disabilities from all four regions of the Republic of Croatia participated in the study. The aim was to identify how the participants self-assess the permanence of their job competencies, the extent of actions taken to seek employment, perceived barriers, and how they self-assess their career and life values. The data were collected using the Employment Questionnaire for Persons with Disabilities (Kiš-Glavaš, 2007.), and were analysed using the statistical methods of regression analysis and correlation. The results showed that the extent of actions taken to seek employment varies depending on how long participants have been unemployed, and that self-assessed career and general life values vary depending on their level of satisfaction with being unemployed. The results also showed that the following groups of participants were not willing to undergo additional training: those who were unemployed for a longer period of time, persons with longer years of service (unless somebody else would pay for the training), persons who are satisfied with being unemployed and persons who assess themselves as having more permanent job competencies. We will conclude with presenting some solutions which, according to their individual characteristics, could increase the willingness for employment, and, in consequence, the employability of persons with intellectual disabilities. These solutions include the implementation of Supportive Employment model, with training at workplace and educating employers and co-workers. They also include systematic enforcement of transition programmes during unemployment periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Factual evidence is a necessary precondition for efficient creation of any public policy, and education policies are not an exception. This paper portrays changes in participation, completion, duration and structure of fee regimes in Croatian tertiary education system, based upon the data collected by Croatian Central Bureau of Statistics. During the past two decades Croatian higher education system went through the greatest transformation in last fifty years. Considerable massification and commercialization of tertiary education ensued. Both processes reached their full pace well before adoption of the Bologna process, and are most visible in professional studies, and academic courses in business, economics and law faculties. Despite expansion of system and prolongation of average study duration, completion rate has somewhat increased during the past decade. Taken together, this was reflected as considerable increase in number of students and proportion of cohort that successfully completes tertiary education. Though, with about 40% of students failing to graduate, Croatia still lags behind majority of EU and OECD countries, both with regard to proportion of cohort which graduates and number of students who drop out of tertiary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of the paper was to analyse the distribution of household income in Croatia among ethnic groups (Croats and ethnic minorities) in low-income households. The second aim was to analyse basic socio-demographic characteristics of low-income households from different ethnic groups. The third aim was to determine the differences between majority and minority groups in the non-monetary and cumulative deprivation indicators, and the fourth was to examine the differences in the position of ethnic minority groups on the labour market. The source of data was the European Quality of Life Survey, which was carried out in Croatia in 2006 by the UNDP Croatia. Due to small subsaniples of ethnic minority groups, the data for the majority group was compared with the data for Serbian and other minority groups (12 ethnic minority groups). The share of the Serbs living in low-income households was about two and a ha If times the share of the Croats, while the share of persons from other ethnic minority groups living in low-income households was about 3% larger than the share of the Croats. Age, type of household, the number of employed household members, the region of residence and the size of town accounted for about two thirds of the gap in the overall number of persons with low income between the Croats and the Serbian ethnic minority (the number of employed household members accounted for almost one third of the mentioned difference). The Serbs more frequently than Croats or persons from other ethnic minority groups receive social assistance or means-tested benefits and have a less favourable position on the labour market. Based on the research findings, some policy measures are suggested in order to reduce the gap in the number of persons with low income between the majority group and ethnic minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to determine the differences between age groups and men and women in the labour market participation, the position in division of labour, form of employment and quality of employment. The findings are based on the analysis of the micro data from the Labour Force Survey for the period between 1996 and 2006. Analysed groups differ in most dimensions of the participation in the world of work, and there is some evidence of the trends of divergence. As well, he results point to heterogeneousness of the outcomes within the age groups themselves, and particularly within the population of men and women. These findings represent a starting point for further analyses that would determine the influence of intervening factors on the occurrences of the presented outcomes for these groups in the world of work, primarily the influence of education, but also other life circumstances and personal preferences. Only the understanding of these mechanisms can enable the adequate education and labour market policies that would efficiently lead to the reduction of risks of social exclusion and the improvement of the quality of working life in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between housing problems, prolonged living with parents and marriage postponement in Croatia. We have used the data from two recent surveys to analyse this relationship. The first survey involved childless singles in the age 35 to 44, and the second one working women in the age 20 to 40. The results indicate that costly housing, and more generally housing problems, have a significant influence on a decision to enter into a marriage and the fertility motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first part of the paper, the author deals with the beginnings of the Croatian pension system, tracing it to the pensions of soldiers and civil servants, guild coffers that emerged in the 19th century, and the pension insurance of the employees of the first Croatian banks in the beginning of the 20th century. Following World War I, the Act on Social Insurance of Workers was adopted in the Yugoslav Monarchy in 1922, regulating pension insurance of workers. However, this law was not applied until 1937. Pension insurance and other forms of social insurance have been systematically introduced after World War II. From the institutional and financial standpoint, pension insurance was gradually decentralised and transferred to the competence of Republics of that period. The crisis of the pension system, already present in the end of the socialist period, was further deepened during the Homeland War and post-socialist transition. It was primarily reflected in the problems related to financing pension systems and the drop of the pension levels. Towards the end of the 1990s, a so-called small, parametric reform was conducted, rationalising the existing pension system. In 2002, a partial capitalization of reforms was initiated, which meant the radical change of the pension system. Pension reform, connected with the changes in society, caused new problems in the first pillar of intergenerational solidarity. After the "debt to pensioners" that was made in the first half of the 1990s, and which is gradually being paid back, the current problem are so-called "new pensioners", who have entered retirement after 1999, and whose pension income is increasingly lagging behind income of those who have entered retirement beforehand. The author points out that the future development of the pension system will be largely determined by the economic development, particularly by growth of employment. He also predicts that Croatia will correct the existing pension system through the change of some of its parameters, (such as the retirement age), while also reconstructing its institutional structure, primarily through the introduction of basic pensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the socio-economic status of the disabled persons in the society. The first part discusses social exclusion and poverty as relative terms. The author refers to some of the latest European researches related to poorer socio-economic status of disabled persons compared to the status of other citizens. Then, using the scarce research conducted on the subject, the author turns to the status of disabled persons in Croatia analysing the findings of the research The Quality of Life of Disabled Persons' Families in Croatia. The research sample consisted of 468 disabled persons from all parts of Croatia. The data were gathered through semi-structured surveys. Variables used in the analyses included: working status, self-assessment of financial status, average monthly income per household, housing conditions and access to various forms of social transfers. The results confirmed the poor financial status of disabled persons. The majority of them are unemployed. They estimate their financial status to be bad, which is further supported by their monthly income. The two thirds can barely make ends meet. Their housing conditions are slightly better. In terms of social transfers, they are receiving them only when they are informed of this possibility. They believe that they can improve their situation if society enables their employment and increases social benefits in accordance with their needs. Similarly to other European researches, this one has also shown that in terms of poverty, disabled persons are an at-risk group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally believed that available financial resources modify the adverse impacts of unemployment on health. Depleted financial resources aggravate the negative effects of a job loss, while possessing financial resources can cushion the stresses of unemployment. A recent meta-analysis (McKee-Ryan et al., 2005) has established that available financial resources and perceived level of financial strain are associated with mental health of unemployed people, but not with their physical health. Moreover, the study has shown that there are very few studies exploring the relationship between financial situation and physical health. In accordance with that, the aim of this paper is to further explore the connection between available financials resources and mental and physical health of unemployed persons. The data were collected on a representative sample of unemployed persons in Croatia (N = 1 138). Both objective (per capita household income) and subjective financial deprivation (frequency of financial worries and sufficiency of income for the satisfaction of various needs) were assessed with a series of questionnaire scales. Subjective health was assessed by the Croatian version of the SF-36 Health Survey, a psychometrically sound instrument tapping physical and psychological health. The results revealed that objective and subjective financial deprivation is related to both mental and physical health. The degree of association is higher for mental health and for the subjective measures of financial deprivation. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pension reform in Croatia, which has started in 1999, established the three-pillar pension system and introduced important changes in its first pillar -- the public pension insurance based on the intergenerational solidarity (PAYG). The paper analyses the trends in the pension system from 1999 until 2004 from the aspect of PAYG system, based on concrete basic indicators such as the dependency ratio, collection of contributions, the average pension, replacement rates and public pension expenditures as a percentage of the GDP. Based on the analysed indicators, the author concludes that the exceptionally unfavourable trends that threatened to destroy the pension system in Croatia towards the end of 1990s have been stopped. However, a significant improvement is possible only in the case of the economic and social expansion of the Republic of Croatia as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper mainly discusses the caritative work of the Catholic Church in Croatia in the first half of the 20th century. The author proceeds from the fact that social problem area and the activity of the Catholic Church in the social sphere in the aforementioned period are still "unexplored areas". This renders the research on the connection between the caritative work of the Catholic Church and social work in Croatia more difficult. It would be necessary to first research a very abundant social activity of the Catholic Church in that historical period. As an example of this abundant social activity, the author mentions the role and activity of Vilko Anderlić, who was 'barely known to have existed' until a few years ago, as well as the example of the foundation and activity of the Caritas Archdiocese of Zagreb. Both examples confirm the assumption of the importance of social and especially caritative work of the Catholic Church until the end of World War II. After 1945, the Church was not permitted social and caritative activity in former Yugoslavia. With respect to the possibility of the caritative activity of the Catholic Church, the situation has improved after the democratic changes in 1990. It should be supposed that the caritative work of the Catholic Church significantly influenced the development of social work in Croatia. The author emphasises the importance of the interdisciplinary dialogue of experts, as the protection of human dignity, that is becoming more and more threatened in contemporary life conditions, is central to both the caritative work of the Catholic Church and social work in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]