Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 84 No. 3, 2014.
Original scientific paper
The Old and New Poor in Croatia: An Empirical View
Zoran Šućur
orcid.org/0000-0001-9248-5612
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb Department of Social Work, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Starting from the assumption that the economic recession has had an adverse impact on the standard of living in Croatia, the objectives of this paper were as follows: 1) examine the impact of the economic crisis on changes in poverty scope and depth, 2) analyse changes in poverty profile and composition of the poor, 3) identify a share of new poverty in Croatia, and 4) analyse the efficiency of unemployment protection measures and social assistance with regard to eventual changes in poverty scope and profile. In order to appraise the influence of the crisis on the poverty headcount rate and the composition of the poor, the Household Budget Survey, carried out by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, was used. The surveys referred to 2007 (before the crisis) and 2010 (after the beginning of the crisis). Poverty line and other poverty indicators are based on the Eurostat official methodology. The results have shown that absolute and relative poverty increased during the crisis, but not income inequalities. Economically active population (the unemployed and employees) and those being dependant on them (children and youth) has been more heavily affected by the crisis. There has been a mild rise in the number of the new poor: young unemployed, people with higher qualifications, families with children. However, there have not been strong changes in the composition of the poor (since, the retired, older and disabled people are still the most
numerous group among the poor). The number of households with housing (mortgage) loans and non-housing loans diminished among the poor, but the debt burden ratio of the remaining poorest households with loans increased. Systems of social welfare and unemployment protection and active labour market policies have shown poor effectiveness in alleviating and preventing poverty. The increase in the number of new poor calls for more investments in active labour market policy measures.
Keywords
old poverty; new poverty; poverty profile; economic recession; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
129343
URI
Publication date:
4.11.2014.
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