Slovenia: Generous family policy without evidence of any fertility impact

Slovenia was not a typical socialist country; the transformation that had started at the end of the 1980s did not cause such great turbulences as in other countries in transition. However, unfavorable consequences did accompany the transition, particularly for some segments of the population. Fertility trends in Slovenia, as seen in the total fertility rate, have not surpassed the replacement level since the end of the 1970s. The lowest level of 1.21 was reached during the 1999-2003 period. Since then, the total fertility rate has been increasing slightly. Postponement in childbearing began with cohorts born after 1960. In today’s Slovenian society, on average young women achieve higher education than men, and they perceive (potential) motherhood as a drawback in the labor market. Almost all parents in Slovenia are employed full-time, even those with small children. Nevertheless, the traditional gender-division of roles persists in the family. Extended education, relatively high unemployment among the young, and a shortage of adequate housing prolong the stay in the parental home. Together with insecure employment, a responsible parenthood norm, and the perceived high costs of children, this results in childbearing postponement and a lower final number of children. Slovenia has a relatively well-developed family policy, particularly on parental leave and pre-school childcare. Notwithstanding, almost no impact of family policy on fertility has ever been observed.childbearing, Europe, family policy, fertility, Slovenia

Porodni dopust i dječje naknade: stavovi, prioriteti i mogući učinci

The paper addresses two family policy measures: parental leave and child benefit. It attempts to find out: 1) how people evaluate the existing measures, 2) which are the preferred alternative forms of these two measures (the length and mode of use of the parental leave, and dependence of child benefit rates on the family income, age of the child and the number of children), 3) how high the improvements of these two measures rate among the desired family policy measures, and 4) what possible impact these improvements may have on deciding to have (more) children. Empirical analysis is based on the International Population Policy Acceptance Survey database that covers 14 European countries. Multivariate analysis is used to explain the individual countries’ results and some of the intercountry variation. It was found out that people tend to estimate a relatively high impact of the introduction of desirable family policy measures on their probable decision to have a(nother) child. The combination of improved parental leave arrangements and a substantial rise in child allowance proved to have a lower fertility impact than other combinations of family policy measures considered in the survey.Članak se bavi dvama mjerama obiteljske politike: porodnim dopustom i dječjim naknadama. Članak pokušava istražiti: 1.) kako ljudi procjenjuju postojeće mjere, 2.) koji se alternativni oblici ovih dvaju mjera preferiraju (dužina i način korištenja porodnog dopusta, ovisnost stopa dječjih naknada na obiteljska primanja, dob djeteta i broj djece), 3.) kako se poboljšanje tih mjera procjenjuje unutar željenih mjera obiteljske politike, i 4.) koji bi učinak ta poboljšanja mogla imati na donošenje odluke o rađanju (još) djece. Empirijska analiza temelji se na bazi podataka Međunarodne ankete o prihvaćanju populacijske politike (International Population Policy Acceptance Survey) koja obuhvaća 14 europskih zemalja. Multivarijantna analiza rabi se za objašnjenje rezultata pojedinačnih zemalja i neke od varijacija među zemljama. Otkriva se da ljudi teže procjeni relativno visokog učinka uvođenja željenih mjera obiteljske politike na na njihovu odluku da imaju (još jedno) dijete. Pokazalo se da kombinacija poboljšanog porodnog dopusta i znatno povećanje dječjih naknada ima manji učinak na stopu plodnosti nego druge kombinacije mjera obiteljske politike koje se razmatraju u anketi

Poverty Line – Basic Concepts

U članku se daje pregled koncepata i metodologije ocjenjivanja linija siromaštva. Prikazana je podjela na apsolutne i relativne te objektivne i subjektivne linije siromaštva. Autorica zaključuje da ne postoje općeprihvaćene definicije linije siromaštva. Važnost tog zaključka je u činjenici da je koncept siromaštva, apliciran u konkretnoj analizi, odlučujući za rezultate mjerenja siromaštva, različite rizične grupe stanovništva, pa čak i različito rangiranje država i drugih teritorijalnih jedinica u komparativnim analizama. Svi ti rezultati bitni su za definiranje politike i mjera za borbu protiv siromaštva.The article gives an overview of different concepts and methodologies for estimating the poverty lines. Absolute and relative poverty lines, as well as objective and subjective concepts are discussed. If all the concepts are summed up, poor is the one: -who lacks certain necessities, -who has less than others have in a society, -who is not to have enough to make ends meet. In the first group there are definitions of poverty being an absolute deprivation and definitions based on some basic needs and food ratios. To the second group belong the definitions of poverty as a share of an average income, income percentile definitions, Townsend’s deprivation index, as well as Mack and Lansley’s definition. Subjective definitions of poverty form the last group. The concept of poverty is essential for the results of poverty measurement which is an important first step in a program aimed at reducing poverty. Different poverty lines and poverty indices result in different poverty rates, different population groups identified to have the highest poverty risk, and even in different orders of countries in comparative analyses

The Elderly Poor in the EU’s New Member States. ENEPRI Research Reports No. 60, November 2008

To what extent is the financial position of the elderly in the NMS more vulnerable than that of the old member states (or the EU-15), due to a rather unfavourable starting point and the possible impact of pension reforms? This is the main issue of the current research report. It tries to delineate the vulnerability of the income position of elderly people in the NMS, in relation to the demographic, socio-economic and institutional context of these countries. More specifically, the report focuses on: - the current level of income of the elderly in the NMS, and the degree of relative poverty; - the way this position is related to the educational and labour market status of the elderly in the NMS, their retirement behaviour, institutional arrangements (notably the pension system), and demographic developments; - specific problems regarding the income position of possibly ‘marginal’ elderly groups in the NMS (such as single elderly female pensioners)

Regional Contacts

List of social services contacts in Eastern Europe.International Labour Organizationunpublishe