Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Access to services by vulnerable groups: barriers, obstacles and good practices
CARES SERIESC
Caritas CARES! country report 2019 Slovenia
Authors: Chiara Crepaldi and Francesca Pepé, Istituto per la Ricerca SocialeContributions to this report by: Cveto Uršič, Caritas SloveniaCoordination: Peter Verhaeghe and Shannon Pfohman, Caritas Europa
This study has received financial support from the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation “EaSI” (2014-2020). For further information please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/social/easi
The information contained in this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission.
Caritas Europa reserves the right to not be held responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information provided in this publication. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected.
Published by Caritas Europa, September 2019.
3Caritas CARES! country report
What is this report about
About Caritas in Slovenia
Recent publications
Contacts
Executive summary
1. The evolution of the socio-economic context
2. Characteristics of the welfare system
3. Access to key social rights and to services by people experiencing poverty or social exclusion
4. An assessment of the availability, accessibility, affordability and adequacy of key services andbenefitsinSlovenia
a. Public Employment Services offer inadequate support, in particular to vulnerable groups such as older workers and young job seekers
b. In Slovenia there is a great demand for market rental houses and also a large demand fornon-profitrentals
c. While the supply of kindergarten institutions is increasing, local authorities cannot always satisfy the demand for places for younger children
d. Homecare services are regulated by municipalities and are not provided under the same condition for all and are not affordable for all who need it
e. In Slovenia there is no uniform system of long-term care
5. Use of the minimum income as a measure of inclusion and activation activation
6. Progress made towards achieving EU and national social targets
7. The use of EU Funds 2014-2020
Conclusions
Recommendations
5
6
6
6
7
8
9
9
11 12
13
15
15
17
17
18
21
23
23
Contents
4
Caritas CARES! SloveniaCaritas CARES! Slovenia
4
5Caritas CARES! country report
What is this report about?CaritasOrganisationsareessentialactorsinthefightagainstpovertyandsocialexclusion,and for social justice. They do so by assisting and providing services to people in need, as well as by presenting alternatives to address unfair structures, policies and measures.
The Caritas CARES country reports are an important instrument in this endeavour. Caritas informs local, regional, national and European authorities and formulates recommendations, based on its daily work with people experiencing poverty.
The country reports have been compiled on the basis of a questionnaire, designed in consultation with the participating member organisations. It will ensure that the voice of the weakest members of our societies is heard and it will support the advocacy efforts of Caritas at national and at European level.
This report is focused on the analysis of availability, accessibility, affordability and adequacy of services addressing poverty and the promotion of social inclusion and activation in European countries, and it attempts to identify concrete causes of non-access to services by the most vulnerable members of our society.
6
Caritas CARES! Slovenia
Caritas in SloveniaFounded in 1990, Caritas Slovenia’s mission is to care for human dignity and to advocate for people and families at risk of poverty and social exclusion, especially elderly people, children, migrants and homeless people. The organisation provides a variety of services to cover basic needs (for example food, clothing, school supplies etc.), but also provides social assistance support services (for example a battered women’s shelter safe house, homeless shelter, centre for drug addicted people, etc.). Caritas Slovenia operates at national, regional and local level with about 11,200 volunteers, 99 employees and 27 participants in public employment programmes.
Users and beneficiaries of Caritas services are mainly individuals and families in working age with children (31-64 years old). The elderly represent another important group of beneficiaries, while the groups aged 0-17 and 18-30 are less present among the beneficiaries. The profile has not changed significantly in recent years.
Volunteers working at a local level are familiar with the people in need and their knowledge is useful for monitoring poverty at national and local level. At the same time, they closely cooperate with local centres for social work, employment services, parishes etc. At the national level Caritas Slovenia cooperates with relevant Government ministries in order to reduce poverty.
Recent publicationsThe Annual Report 2018 is available at the following link: https://www.karitas.si/o-karitas/porocilo/
ContactsContact person: Cveto Uršič Email: [email protected] Tel: +386 41 397 000
Communication/press contact: Jana Lampe Email: [email protected] Tel: +386 31 344 481
Executive summary
7
Slovenia is a country presenting rapid changes in its socio-demographic composition: while the population at working age has decreased by 4.2% over the past decade, all the dependent groups of the population have increased. The country will face a serious socio-demographic imbalance with increasing emerging care needs in the near future and in the long term, and the society and care services should be prepared to tackle them, in particular in the areas of healthcare and long term care systems.
Slovenia’s economy is experiencing a robust growth with increasing employment rates and declining unemployment rates. Concerning poverty, Slovenia has one of the lowest rates of population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in the EU, and, even if the expenditure for socialprotectionbenefits remains well below the EU average, the impact of social transfers (excluding pensions) on poverty reduction is one of the highest in the EU.
Caritas Slovenia has established that, in general, access to key social rights is quite good:
Recommendations
Recommendation 1: Implement the long term care insurance.
Recommendation 2: Promote employability of young people and the elderly.
Recommendation 3: Increase the availability of social housing.
Recommendation 4: Accept the remaining provisions of article 13 of the Revised European Social Charter.
in particular childcare, support to children, and the minimum income are considered fully accessible, while access to essential services1 is considered reasonably accessible. A few challenges still remain to be tackled by social policies:
• Public Employment Services offer inadequate support, in particular to vulnerable groups such as older workers and young job seekers;
• In Slovenia there is a great demand for market rental houses as well as for social housing;
• While the supply of kindergarten institutions is increasing, local authorities cannot always satisfy the demand for places for younger children;
• Homecare services are regulated by municipalities and are not provided under the same conditions for all and are not affordable for all who need them;
• In Slovenia there is no uniform system of long-term care provision.
Caritas CARES! country report
1 Principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/european-pillar-social-rights_en.
8
Caritas CARES! Slovenia
Between 2009 and 2018 the population in Slovenia grew by 1.7% with an increase of 34,518 people. It is a country presenting rapid changes in its socio-demographic composition: data show that while the population at working age has decreased by 4.2% over the past decade, all the dependent groups of population have increased: children have increased by 9.4%, the elderly (>65) have increased by 20.1% (+67,233) and the over 85s by 72.4%.
The country will face a serious socio-demographic imbalance with increasing emerging care needs in the near future and in the long term, and the society and care services should be prepared to tackle them, in particular in the areas of healthcare and long term care systems.
The population is also changing due to migration flows: in 2018, 102,335 third country nationals were living in the country, equal to 5% of the population, above the EU average (of 4.1%). In 2018, 2,875 asylum applicants were registered in Slovenia, with a considerable increase in 2015, the peak year at EU level, as in that year 275 asylum applicants registered.
Slovenia’s economy is experiencing a robust growth.2 The employment rate of people aged 20-64 has increased over the years and it reached 75.4% in 2018, up by 3.5 percentage points in comparison to 2009.3
The unemployment rate continued to decline strongly after the peak of 10.1% in 2013, falling to 5.1% in 2018, well below the EU 28 average (of 6.8%).4
Concerning poverty, Slovenia has one of the lowest rates of population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in the EU, namely 17.1% in 2017 versus an EU average of 22.4%.5 Nevertheless, the situation remains difficult for specific groups of the population, for example people aged over 65, with a particular concern for elderly women. Even though the risk of poverty/social exclusion has decreased in recent years, labour market participation of older workers and low-skilled workers is low and old-age poverty still remains a challenge.6
Inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient,7 remains among the lowest in the EU8 (23.7% against an EU average of 30.7%).
The expenditureforsocialprotectionbenefits in Slovenia has increased slightly over the years but it has remained well below the EU average: it increased from €3,963 per inhabitant (at constant prices) in 2008 to €4,309 in 2016 (the latest available data) in comparison to €7,377 at EU level. Nevertheless the impact of social transfers (excluding pensions) on poverty reduction9 is one of the highest in the EU. Social expenditure has reduced poverty by 44.6% while the EU average is 34.0%.
1. The evolution of the socio-economic context
2 European Semester Country Report Slovenia https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/file_import/2019-european-semester-country-report-slovenia_en.pdf.3 Eurostat, 2019, Employment - annual data.4 Eurostat, 2019, Unemployment - annual average.5 Eurostat, 2019, People at risk of poverty or social exclusion.6 European Semester Country Report Slovenia.7 The Gini coefficient ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 represents perfect equality in a society and 100 represents the maximum level of inequality.8 Slovenia Country report.9 Reduction in the percentage of the at-risk-of-poverty rate, due to social transfers (calculated comparing at-risk-of poverty rates before social transfers with those after transfers; pensions are not considered as social transfers in these calculations). The indicator is based on the EU-SILC (statistics on income, social inclusion and living conditions).
9Caritas CARES! country report
When dealing with social exclusion and poverty the Slovenian social protection system is a complex set of policy measures and it offers support through the provision of services as well as through financial benefits. Financial protection is guaranteed through a minimum income scheme which includes various benefits. The main means-tested benefit available to Slovenian citizens (not only of working age, but to all adults fulfilling the entitlement conditions) is financial social assistance (FSA), which is defined as a minimum income for individuals and families that are without other sources of income (or on very low income) or other means of subsistence because of circumstances beyond their control. Thus, the FSA is the final safety net for people in need. It is, by its very nature, meant as a time-limited support and is initially granted for a period of three months and then again for six months; in some cases it can be granted for one year. After the expiry of the granted right to the FSA, the individual or family can reclaim the right to the FSA for as long (and as often) as their poor social situation exists (provided the person or family meets the entitlement conditions).
There also exists a permanent FSA for people permanently unable to work (disability status) and elderly people without other income (this allowance is higher than the usual FSA). There are also other social benefits, like: an exceptional FSA (which can be granted in exceptional circumstances), income supplement (for persons entitled to the FSA), unemployment benefit and some family benefits (which are insurance based) and these are financed from the State budget. The local authorities (municipalities) have the responsibility for granting means-tested social subsidies in the area of child-care, housing, care for the elderly, and health insurance to their residents. To illustrate this, they grant: a subsidy for public child care facility programmes (kindergartens), housing (rental) subsidy, subsidies and payments in the area of care for the elderly, and long-term care in general (home insurance for people not insured in any other way (e.g. through work/employment or through other family members). There are several other policy measures (public social welfare services and various programmes provided by non-governmental organisations), which aim to lower the level of poverty and social exclusion.
2. Characteristics of the welfare system
3. Access to key social rights and to services by people experiencing poverty or social exclusion
The main goal of this Caritas CARES country report is to analyse if and how living in poverty or in a condition of social exclusion hinders access to social rights and to services.
Several EU initiatives have been promoted in recent years to tackle inequality, poverty and social exclusion, both in general terms and for specific target groups. The European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission have taken several policy initiatives to strengthen the social dimension of the European Union, and
the most recent initiative in this context is The European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). Another highly relevant instrument is the (revised) European Social Charter (ESC) of the Council of Europe. Both the Pillar and the Charter state the right of access to some specific social rights related to equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions, access to social protection and inclusion.
The European Pillar of Social Rights sets out 20 key principles and rights to support fair and well-
10
Caritas CARES! Slovenia
functioning labour markets and welfare systems. They are fully described here: LINK.10 Several of the rights cited by the European Pillar of Social Rights specifically relate to the conditions of people in poverty and social exclusion. This is particularly the case of PRINCIPLE 4 - Active support to employment; PRINCIPLE 11 - Childcare and support to children; PRINCIPLE 14 - Minimum income; PRINCIPLE 16 - Health care; PRINCIPLE 19 - Housing
Caritas recommends that Slovenia accepts the remaining provisions of Article 13 of the Revised European Social Charter.
Caritas Slovenia has established that, in general, access to these rights is regarded as quite good: in particular, childcare, support to children and minimum income are considered fully accessible
10 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/european-pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20-principles_en.
Box1-RatificationandimplementationoftheRevisedEuropean Social Charter (1996) related to access to services and minimum income
Slovenia has ratified the majority of Articles of the 1996 Revised European Social Charter.
The following articles could have an impact on access to services and minimum income:
• The right to vocational guidance (Article 9)
• The right to vocational training (Article 10)
• The right to protection of health (Article 11)
• The right to social and medical assistance (Article 13)
• The right to benefit from social welfare services (Article 14)
• The right of the family to social, legal and economic protection (Article 16)
• The right of elderly persons to social protection (Article 23)
• The right to protection against poverty and social exclusion (Article 30)
• The right to housing (Article 31)
Slovenia has accepted the Additional Protocol providing for a System of Collective Complaints.
More information on the provisions accepted by Slovenia can be found in the Country Factsheet.
and assistance for the homeless; and PRINCIPLE 20 - Access to essential services.
Another highly relevant instrument is the (revised) European Social Charter (ESC) of the Council of Europe. The most relevant articles of the European Social Charter related to access to services are listed below (Box 1).
(ranked as 5 out of 5), and access to essential services is considered reasonably accessible (rated 4 out of 5).
In the following section the difficulties in accessing a selected set of services available for those in need are described in detail.
11Caritas CARES! country report
Caritas Slovenia has evidence that, within this complex set of measures and services, different groups of vulnerable people face considerable barriers and obstacles in accessing them. The most affected vulnerable groups, according to Caritas Slovenia, are asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented persons, migrants, but also young people, the elderly, and persons with physical and intellectual disabilities.
In this section the main strengths and weaknesses in accessing five important services are described.
Three services selected for analysis are common to all European countries (the public employment service, housing policies and early childhood education services), and two have been chosen specifically by the national Caritas as particularly relevant in Slovenia: homecare services and services for the elderly as they respond to the challenges of ageing, which is currently top of the social policy agenda in Slovenia.
The main criteria for the evaluation of services are adequacy, accessibility, availability and affordability.
The assessment has been ranked on a scale ranging from 1 (the lowest mark meaning that the service is completely inadequate, or inaccessible, or unavailable or unaffordable) to 5 which means that it is completely positive.
The service having the highest rating, as the following table shows, is public employment services, while those ranked as the most problematic are housing services and services for migrants and asylum seekers.
The main problem, in general, for the 5 services is availability, and this particularly affects housing, being the service ranked as being the most problematic on all 4 criteria. On the contrary the service showing the most positive result is early childhood education/ECEC, as the following table shows:
ADEQUACY: the service is of good quality and is satisfactory: it is able to respond to the needs of the user;
ACCESSIBILITY: the service can be reached or obtained easily, and it is easy to understand and to use;
AVAILABILITY: the service exists and it is available for those who need it;
AFFORDABILITY: the service is cheap enough for people who need it to be able to afford it.
4. An assessment of the availability, accessibility, affordability andadequacyofkeyservicesandbenefitsinSlovenia
Adequacy Accessibility Availability Affordability AVERAGE
Public employment 3 3 3 4 3.25
Housing policies 3 2 2 2 2.25
Early childhood education/ECEC 5 4 3 4 4
Homecase services 4 4 3 2 3.25
Services for elderly 3 3 3 3 3
AVERAGE 3.6 3.2 2.8 3
12
Caritas CARES! Slovenia
a. Public Employment Services offer inadequate support, in particular to vulnerable groups such as older workers and young job seekers
The most vulnerable groups on the Slovenian labour market are older workers, those with low education and young jobseekers, but also asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented persons, migrants and ethnic minorities.
Young people are one of the most endangered groups in the labour market, because they mostly only enter it with a lack of (formal) experience. They have problems finding suitable employment, and they often work in precarious flexible jobs, so at the onset of a crisis they are usually the first to lose their jobs. Older unemployed persons face additional barriers compared to other age groups of unemployed, as they are characterised by or encounter prejudice on multiple factors of vulnerability: age, poorer education, less flexibility and the increased presence of health problems and disability (more than a quarter of the older unemployed have the status of a disabled person). So, it is assumed by employers and others that older people are also less productive, which leads to additional discrimination of older workers. The lack of skills and knowledge of low-educated unemployed persons is usually associated with long-term unemployment, too. The country has prepared a series of incentives for these groups to (re) enter the labour market, however their presence among the unemployed remains high.
The main issues described in terms of service provision for employment are the moderate difficulty of accessing the service, its adequacy and availability (ranked as 3 out of 5). On the contrary, the service has been evaluated as quite affordable (assessed with 4).
In the last few years access to most of the active labour market policy measures has improved, due to the decreasing number of unemployed persons who needed to be included in these measures.
A testimony can help to illustrate the access to these services:
The father, Janez, is disadvantaged in the labour market due to spinal problems. His wife, Marija, was employed in a company that went bankrupt. Later on, she was temporarily employed in a shop. At the moment, Marija is unemployed, but she is actively looking for a job. Their daughters are 6 and 2 years old. The older one is attending the first grade of her schooling and the younger one is at home. They live together in a rented flat. The monthly rent amounts to €350, then there are additional housing costs. They cannot arrange permanent residence at this address. They are receiving financial social assistance. With the help of their parish Caritas, they manage to get through each month, since they receive food packages and clothes, and the parish Caritas also helps them with paying their bills. As the family lives in a small village far from the Employment Service, Marija cannot therefore be included in the programmes offered by this service. The same applies to Janez, especially because there are not many employment rehabilitation providers for people with disabilities.
13Caritas CARES! country report
b. In Slovenia there is a great demand for market rental houses and also a large demand for social housing
In Slovenia social housing is officially defined as a non-profit, rented dwelling and it is targeted at people with low to middle incomes. At present, social housing represents about 6% of the national housing stock, and social housing providers are municipalities as well as60registerednot-for-profitorganisations. Municipalities or groups of municipalities often set up a municipal housing fund.
The social housing is co-financed from both the State and municipal budgets. To be eligible for social housing, tenants must be citizens of Slovenia, they have to be in certain housing and social conditions, and must pay a participation fee and guarantee deposit. The municipality may grant priority to families with children, households with unemployed members, young persons and families, persons with disabilities, and those whose profession or activity is considered as important for the local community.
In Slovenia there is a big demand for market rental houses as well as social housing. For example, Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, is short of some 4,000 social housing units for rent. National statistics show that housing prices in Slovenia rose by 18.2% in 2018, although they have not yet exceeded the pre-crisis level at the national level. To summarise, there is a great demand for social housing, and vulnerable groups of people can’t afford market rental housing.
The most vulnerable groups affected by these barriers/obstacles are young people, asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented persons, migrants, ethnic minorities and Roma people.
According to Caritas Slovenia the service is regarded as quite problematic across all the
evaluation criteria; in particular the main problems are accessibility, availability and affordability (ranked 2) followed by adequacy (rated 3). Despite these evaluations, in the last few years the service has improved.
A testimony can help to illustrate the access to this service.
There are 6 members in the family. Jože, the father was fatally injured 10 years ago when building a house. As he was only doing occasional work, his children do not receive an orphan’s pension. The youngest child was born after his death. Anna, the mother has not completed primary education and is disadvantaged in the labour market. She lives on social assistance and child benefits. All the children attend school; the two oldest go to secondary school, while the other three go to primary school. She is a caring mother and provides well for her family despite the high costs and straitened circumstances in which they live. She still has difficulty registering their plot and house on the Land Register, because the owner who sold them the plot, sold it to two other buyers as well. Since her husband was the one who had taken care of this, she did not have all the data and documents to prove ownership. She is barely functionally literate. For years now, they have been in the process of suing the seller, together with the two other owners that also bought the plot. They live in difficult circumstances, since they do not have their own electricity and water. They are connected to the electricity of their neighbour and they heat their home with firewood.
14
Caritas CARES! SloveniaCaritas CARES! Slovenia
14
15Caritas CARES! country report
c. While the supply of kindergarten institutions is increasing, local authorities cannot always satisfy the demand for places for younger children
Slovenia has established an integrated approach to preschool education, combining education, play and care in preschool institutions. Comprehensive care for preschool children involves meals, rest and sleep, as well as various educational programmes.
Preschool education is not compulsory; it admits children from 11 months to 6 years of age, or to the age when they enter primary schooling. Preschool education is performed by public and private preschool institutions. Public preschool institutions are founded and partly financed by local communities. They are also financed from parents’ contributions (from 0 to 77%, depending on their income). So, from the age of 11 months, children are legally entitled to a publicly subsidised ECEC place. However, while the supply of kindergarten institutions is indeed increasing, local authorities cannot always satisfy the demand for places for younger children.
Caritas Slovenia has established that this service is regarded as fully adequate (ranked 5 out of 5), and reasonably accessible and affordable (both rated 4). It has also been assessed as moderately available.
In general, access to this service has neither improved nor worsened.
d. Homecare services are regulated by municipalities and are not provided under the same conditions for all and are not affordable for all who need it
Slovenia is known as a heavily institutionalised country as regards care for older people. The network of old age homes is very well developed, while homecare services are facing serious problems. Homecare is a public service and is the most common and most developed social service provided at home to the user, who is, in most cases, an elderly person. Despite this fact, the development of this and other services provided
at the homes of users are still facing serious weaknesses as well as new challenges. Homecare is not provided under the same conditions for all. As the services are regulated by municipalities, the potential users do not have access to homecare at the same price. The Slovenian regulation allows different prices and different financial participation rates by the users. The regulations also influence the availability of homecare in different municipalities. The delivery and availability of the services strongly depends on the location of the user.
In accordance with the Social Security Act, municipalities are legally obliged to subsidise at least 50% of the cost of the social homecare service for all users, as well as having to pay the difference between the cost of the service and the contributions of the beneficiary or other persons liable, in the event of additional payment exemptions. So, out-of-pocket payments for homecare services depend on the financial situation of the person in need. Under the specific rules and conditions, beneficiaries could be partially or fully exempt from payment of the services listed above.
Nevertheless, homecare is not affordable for all who need it. Due to the relatively low incomes of older people in Slovenia, homecare for people with moderate or severe needs is unaffordable, while institutional care services are more affordable. The most affected vulnerable groups are the elderly and persons with physical and intellectual disabilities.
According to Caritas, if the goal is to reduce the unmet needs of dependent elderly people, it is crucial to expand homecare and other services provided at the users’ homes, as well as to increase flexibility in their implementation.
According to Caritas Slovenia’s survey, the main problem is affordability (ranked as 2 out of 5) followed by availability (rated 3). At the same time the homecare service is described as quite adequate and accessible (both rated 4).
In the last few years, access to this service has neither improved nor worsened.
16
Caritas CARES! SloveniaCaritas CARES! Slovenia
16
17Caritas CARES! country report
Principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights states that:
“Everyone lacking sufficient resources has the right to adequate minimum income benefits ensuring a life in dignity at all stages of life, and effective access to enabling goods and services. For those who can work, minimum income benefits should be combined with incentives to (re)integrate into the labour market.”
According to the approach put forward by the EU initiatives (in particular the Recommendation on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market, promoted in 2008 by the European Commission11), minimum income schemes have to be viewed through the perspective of the active inclusion approach: they are expected to be universal and to provide integrated support in the form of adequate cash benefits, effective access
to enabling goods and services, and to include an activation component for beneficiaries.
Minimum income is implemented in Slovenia and it is named “Denarnasocialnapomoč” (financial social assistance - FSA). It is considered a financial support in line with the active inclusion approach and it seems able to significantly contribute to reducing poverty.
New Slovenian social legislation came into force in 2012 with two Acts, the Exercise of Rights to Public Funds Act and the Social Protection Benefits Act. The implementation of these two Acts brought great changes in the field of means-tested social benefits (not insurance based). They are mainly financed from the State budget, with a small contribution from the municipalities’ budgets. The idea behind the need to reform the social benefits system was connected, in the beginning, to the
5. Use of the minimum income as a measure of inclusion and activation
e. In Slovenia there is no uniform system of long-term care
Regarding the services for the elderly, currently, in Slovenia, there is no uniform system of long-term care (LTC). Different forms of LTC services and benefits are provided within different systems (health care, social services, pensions and disability, etc.). There is no unified entry point, or a standard model of LTC needs’ assessment, and funding for LTC comes from several sources. Besides the systemic reasons for a reform of the LTC system, there are also important demographic, fiscal, economic and social reasons for a reform. The discussions (expert and political) on the need for changes and unification of the LTC system, and indicative plans for the reform, started 10 years
ago, but Slovenia still doesn’t have a common Act covering the whole LTC system.
The current Slovenian Government has put the reform of long-term care (LTC) high on the agenda of the on-going legislative period. Therefore, the Ministry of Health is testing the concept of one-stop shops and integrated LTC delivery over a 2-year pilot project (2018-2020) in order to support the transition into a new system of long-term care delivery.
Caritas Slovenia has established that the services for the elderly are regarded as moderately adequate, accessible, available and affordable.
In the last few years, access to this service has neither improved nor worsened.
11 Commission Recommendation of 3 October 2008 on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32008H0867.
18
Caritas CARES! Slovenia
The Europe 2020 strategy sets the EU’s agenda for growth and jobs for the current decade, having as its main objective the promotion of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as a way of overcoming the structural weaknesses in Europe’s economy, and tackling key European inequalities. The Strategy sets out the EU TARGETS to give an overall view of where the EU should be by 2020, based on key socio-economic parameters. The EU targets are then translated into national targets so that each EU Member State can check its own progress towards each goal. Those referring to employment and poverty and social exclusion
are particularly relevant for this study.
In relation to EMPLOYMENT, the target set at EU level is that, by 2020, 75% of people aged 20–64 are expected to be in work. For Slovenia this indicator has been set at the same level. In 2009 it was about 71.9% and in 2018 it is at 75.4%. This indicates that the target has been reached and slightly exceeded.
Concerning POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION, the EU target foresees a reduction of at least 20 million people in or at risk of poverty or social exclusion. In 2017 about 345,000 people were at
6. Progress made towards achieving EU and national social targets
flexicurity concept, the activation principle, as well as to the prevention of fraud and the unjustified accumulation of benefits (linking social protection to activation) as well as to increased flexibility of employment relations and jobs. Even before the reform, an active job search (requiring registration at the employment service) was formally obligatory for claimants of the basic means-tested social benefit (the FSA), but the tightening of activation conditions was envisaged in order to prevent benefit dependency.
In cases of complex (severe) social problems, that make the claimant temporarily unemployable, the social work centre’s (SWC) professional has discretion to give the FSA to a claimant who is not registered at the Employment Service of Slovenia (ESS) as an active job seeker, on the basis of an agreement between the claimant and the SWC on actively solving his/her social situation. Regarding the activation, the reform has introduced an activity supplement, as a top up to the amount of FSA, for those recipients working (performing some work) or participating in some employment programmes, social rehabilitation programmes or working as
a volunteer in a non-profit organisation (with the aim of increasing their employability). The activity supplement to the FSA is intended as a positive stimulation for activation of FSA beneficiaries.
Since 2016 the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities has been working on the social activation project, i.e. developing an activation system and social activation programmes to address persistent long-term unemployment and long-term dependency on social benefits (more than 50% of adult FSA recipients are long-term dependents). In 2018 and 2019, more than 1,000 long term FSA beneficiaries have been included in activation programmes.
The main positive aspect of the active inclusion approach in Slovenia is its expected contribution to promoting a more activating social policy approach, developing an activation system and social activation programmes. On the contrary, the expected negative aspect is the difficulty of implementing the active inclusion measure because different institutions are involved (employment and social services) and they do not always cooperate.
19Caritas CARES! country report
risk of poverty and social exclusion in Slovenia (17.1% of the population12). The target set by Slovenia was a reduction of 40,000 people in poverty or social exclusion. According to Eurostat, in 2017 the reduction was only 16,000 persons.
To achieve these targets, the Slovenian Government has promoted, over the years, programmes and reforms in line with the EUROPE 2020 Strategy.
• In May each year the European Commission assesses the progress made and issues COUNTRY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS14 to propose new actions. The recommendations provide policy guidance tailored to each EU country on how to boost jobs and growth, while maintaining sound public finances. The recommendations focus on what can realistically be achieved over the next 12-18 months. In 2018, the Recommendations issued for Slovenia relating to social inclusion were the following:
12 Eurostat, 2019, AROPE.13 European Semester Country Report, 2019. https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2019-european-semester-country-reports_en.14 Here you can download the most recent available recommendations. https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2018-european-semester-country-specific-recommendations-commission-recommendations_en.
Slovenia is performing well on most indicators of the Social Scoreboard supporting the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The labour market continues to improve, as illustrated by rising employment and a falling unemployment rate.
The number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion has decreased.
Slovenia is making progress in improving childcare and support to children. The education system is generally performing well.
Although the at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate has decreased over the last years, old-age poverty remains high, particularly for elderly women, reflecting challenges regarding the adequacy of the pension system.
Within this framework the evolution of the socio-economic context in Member States is described each year within the Commission Staff Working Document European Semester Country Report.13 In 2019, in the area of poverty and social exclusion, the report identified a positive trend in terms of reducing poverty and social exclusion even if a few challenges remain to be tackled.
1.(…) Adopt and implement the healthcare and health insurance Act and the planned reform of long-term care. Ensure the long term sustainability and adequacy of the pension system, including by increasing the statutory retirement age and by restricting early retirement. Increase the employability of low-skilled and older workers through lifelong learning and activation measures.
20
Caritas CARES! Slovenia
The draft 2019 COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS15 are quite similar to those issued for 2018.
15 https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/2019-european-semester-country-specific-recommendation-commission-recommendation-slovenia_en.pdf.16 Here you can download the most recent available programmes https://ec.europa.eu/info/2018-european-semester-national-reform-programmes-and-stability-convergence-programmes_en.
• Within the NATIONAL REFORM PROGRAMME16 each country describes the reforms needed to reach the targets set at EU level. The reforms foreseen in 2019, to tackle social inclusion, social protection and health challenges, are the following:
- The proposed structural changes in the labour market address issues relating to an increase in labour participation, demographics, sustainability of the pension system and adequacy of pensions. This will have a positive effect on the labour market participation of older workers, improve social protection for certain vulnerable groups and result in faster activation of the population
- The proposed changes to the pension system include an increase in the accrual rate and thereby the adequacy of new old-age pensions, an increase in the pension age, and a gradual increase of the age limits for retirement, an overhaul of the system for simultaneously
1. Adopt and implement reforms in healthcare and long-term care that ensure quality, accessibility and long-term fiscal sustainability. Ensure the long-term sustainability and adequacy of the pension system, including by adjusting the statutory retirement age and restricting early retirement. Increase the employability of low-skilled and older workers by improving labour market relevance of education and training, lifelong learning and activation measures, including through better digital literacy.
receiving pensions whilst at the same time working, and of the elements of the pension system such as the method for the indexation of pensions.
- Measures for a more effective, active employment policy and social activation will continue to be implemented.
According to Caritas Slovenia, the situation and problems described in the COUNTRY REPORT and the reforms foreseen in the NATIONAL REFORM PROGRAMME reflect quite adequately the reality of poverty and social exclusion (ranked 4 out of 5) and they are considered moderately implementable (rated as 3).
The country specific recommendations are mostly relevant, but due to a lack of political will, their implementation is a challenge.
The most relevant policy reform related to the social inclusion strategy, implemented in Slovenia in the last 2 years, and considered to have had a mostly positive impact on the reduction of poverty and social exclusion and in promoting access to social rights, is the reform that, in 2012, introduced the activity supplement as a top up to the amount of the FSA for those recipients working or participating in some employment programmes, social rehabilitation programmes or certain social protection programmes (with the aim of increasing their employability). There are two levels (two amounts) of activity supplement that can be granted (lower and higher), depending on the number of hours worked or activity performed. Since 2014, the FSA beneficiaries performing occasional voluntary work in humanitarian organisations have been able to receive the lower amount of activity supplement.
Another measure that can be considered as particularly relevant at national level is the social
21Caritas CARES! country report
activation project. Since 2016 the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities has been working on developing an activation system, and social activation programmes, to address persistent long-term unemployment and long-term
dependency on social benefits. Both measures were introduced more than 2 years ago. They can be pointed out as very positive measures for the reduction of poverty and social exclusion.
In the multi-annual financial framework for 2014-2020, within the Europe 2020 strategy, the fight against poverty and social exclusion has been considered on an equal footing to other EU targets and objectives. In the regulations adopted for this new period, more efforts have been put in place to ensure that the challenges around social inclusion are addressed: 20% of the European Social Fund (ESF) should be dedicated to policies and measures aimed at promoting social inclusion, and a specific fund has been implemented to support Member
7. The use of EU Funds 2014-2020
States in the fight against poverty and social exclusion, namely, the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD).
Caritas Slovenia has been directly involved both in the implementation of the ESF and of FEAD. Caritas Slovenia considers that ESF resources have quite adequately been used to fight poverty and social exclusion, while FEAD resources have been moderately adequately used to fight poverty and social exclusion (ranked 3 out of 5).
22
Caritas CARES! SloveniaCaritas CARES! Slovenia
22
23Caritas CARES! country report
The country will have to address a serious socio-demographic imbalance, with increasing emerging care needs in the near future and in the long term, and the society and care services should be prepared to tackle them, in particular in the areas of the healthcare and long term care systems.
Caritas Slovenia has established that, in general, access to key social rights is quite good: in particular, childcare, support to children and minimum income are considered fully accessible, and access to essential services is considered reasonably accessible. A few challenges still remain to be tackled by social policies:
• Public Employment Services offer inadequate support, in particular to vulnerable groups, such as older workers and young job seekers;
• In Slovenia there is a great demand for market rental houses and also a large demand for social housing;
• While the supply of kindergarten institutions is increasing, local authorities cannot always satisfy the demand for places for younger children;
• Homecare services are regulated by municipalities. As a consequence, they are not provided to all under the same conditions and they are not affordable for all who need it;
• In Slovenia there is no uniform system of long-term care.
Conclusions
Recommendation 1: Implement the long term care insurance Adopt and implement the healthcare reform and Act on long term care.
Recommendation 2: Promote employability of young persons and the elderly Slovenia has to prepare employment reforms which include measures to improve the adequacy of the public employment services, by adopting a tailor-made individual approach in order to better address the specific needs of older (+55) and younger (<30) unemployed people.
Recommendation 3: Increase the availability of social housing by investing in the construction of new dwellings, and providing rental subsidies, in order to meet the demand for affordable housing.
Recommendation 4: Caritas recommends that Slovenia accepts the remaining provisions of Article 13 of the Revised European Social Charter.
RecommendationsCaritas Slovenia recommends, at national level, promoting changes and reforms, in particular in the following areas:
Kristanova ulica 1, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tel: +386 1 30 05 960 [email protected] www.karitas.si
