Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/rsp.v13i3.437
Excluded to what extent? Socio-demographic Profile, Employability and Social Capital of the Working Poor and Jobless Households in Croatia
Teo Matković
; Studijski centar socijalnog rada, Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Abstract
Based on the research conducted in 2004 by the Croatian Caritas and the Centre for the Promotion of the Social Teaching of the Church, the paper attempts to map two marginal groups in the socio-economic landscape of Croatia: the working poor and jobless households. Alongside with the structure of these groups, the levels of their social isolation, employability, solidarity and trust are also analysed through the prism of social exclusion theories. The working poor make a relatively small group, primarily composed of self-employed persons, men, persons with lower level of education and larger families. As a rule, there is no sign of increased social isolation or the lack of solidarity among the working poor, but a certain deficit of employability can be detected. Members of jobless households in Croatia comprise a tenth of the population, a moderate level in the European context. Apart from not participating in the labour market themselves, they are »cut off« from it by the fact that other household members are also unemployed, which reduces material, social and cultural resources of the household. Jobless households are most frequent among the vulnerable single parent households and single person households. They are characterised by a very high risk of poverty, increased level of isolation from all spheres of activity, low employability and the possibility of intergenerational reproduction of poverty. However, both working poor and jobless household members participate in the social mainstream: their generalised trust and solidarity do not differ considerably from that of the general population. The findings indicate that, in the sphere of social policies directed towards both groups, common priorities should include the increase of employability, primarily through (lifelong) educational programmes and retraining, as well as redistribution measures directed towards the families with children, which would reduce the risk of intergenerational reproduction of poverty.
Keywords
social exclusion; jobless households; working poor; employability; social capital; solidarity; poverty
Hrčak ID:
30300
URI
Publication date:
4.12.2006.
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