Stručni rad
Social Assistance as a Policy Instrument towards the Poor in Croatia
Zdenko Babić
Sažetak
This paper evaluates the effects of programs and instruments aimed at combating poverty in Croatia with a special emphasis on social assistance. Due to the post-socialist transition and the Homeland War (1991-1995), Croatia was faced with a significant increase in social problems in the 1990s. Social programs were at the time focused on those mostly affected by the war - refugees, displaced persons, and the disabled in the war. In 2002, the Croatian Government adopted the country's first Program to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion. Although it was an important step in fighting poverty, its implementation seems to have failed, due to the reluctance of political actors and a lack of coordinated policies. Furthermore, although social assistance is a well-targeted transfer towards the poor, its level in Croatia has been low and unchanged since 2001. Therefore, the process of relatively intense economic development in Croatia in the 2000s has not resulted in a decrease in the number of the poor.
Ključne riječi
poverty; social transfers; social assistance
Hrčak ID:
29625
URI
Datum izdavanja:
3.11.2008.
Posjeta: 3.003 *