Maša Filipovič Hrast

SOCIAL NETWORKS IN SLOVENIA

ABSTRACT The process generally referred to as ‘the transition’ implied a complex set of social changes in Central and Eastern European countries (CEE). On the one hand, there were institutional reforms which were launched to abolish the socialist economic and political systems. On the other hand, the provision of welfare was also affected by ‘transition’. The change could be observed at the institutional level (i.e., through the welfare state) as well as at the social and individual level – in the ways individuals associated, how they perceived new risks and with whom they engaged to confront them. In this article we focus on social support provision from informal sources, i.e., ego-centered social support networks, which are an important foundation for the quality of everyday life. We would like to find out whether changes in the socio-economic system are reflected in and accompanied by changes in social support providers. How have people responded to transition? Did the patterns of support and social support providers change in this period? Consequently, the research question addressed in this article is the following: do the current types of social networks differ from those in the 1980s? We try to answer it by analyzing and comparing the data on social support networks in 1987 and 2002. The data are interpreted in the context of the transition that was happening in Slovenia at the time.

Social exclusion of elderly in Central and Eastern Europe

Purpose – Ageing of population means for society facing new challenges and one of the main challenges is how to ensure quality of life of elderly and prevent their exclusion from the society. This position of elderly is intrinsically linked to the welfare system and policies that are applied to prevent and tackle social exclusion of vulnerable individuals and groups. The focus is on Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, which are in research often piled in the same group. However, in the article the authors wish to also focus on differences between them. Design/methodology/approach – Social exclusion as a concept for observing vulnerability of elderly enables observation of vulnerabilities in various areas/dimensions at the same time, and also enables comparison of particular populations with other groups and enables determining their position within the society. In this article the authors observe social exclusion of the elderly in several areas: health and access to health care, poverty and mate...

Sense of Community and the Importance of Values: Comparison of Two Neighborhoods in Slovenia

ABSTRACT: Sense of community is analyzed in two very different types of neighborhoods in Ljubljana, Slovenia: a large housing estate and a middle-class neighborhood of individual houses. The main research question posed is which individual characteristics are associated with sense of community in the two neighborhoods. A specific addition to current knowledge involves the inclusion of values as important characteristics associated with sense of community. The analysis was made on a quota sample of 337 individuals. Sense of community was shown to be comprised of three factors: (1) contact with neighbors; (2) social control; and (3) attachment. We observed this separately in the two neighborhoods. The analysis showed that values significantly increase the model’s explanatory power and that the two neighborhoods differ significantly in terms of which variables are important for sense of community, therefore indicating that this could be highly context-dependent. In addition, qualitative data are used to illustrate the sense of community in the two neighborhoods.

The role of social support networks in proxy Internet use from the intergenerational solidarity perspective

Abstract Digital inequalities research has documented a set of practices related to people’s Internet use that questions the binary division between Internet users and non-users. In particular, among older adults, a considerably large group of individuals has been identified as not using the Internet by themselves; rather, they ask members of their personal networks to do things online for them—they “use” the Internet by proxy. Since previous research shows that children and grandchildren are important sources of help when it comes to Internet use, the current paper indicates that the notion of intergenerational solidarity is a sound conceptual basis for understanding the relationship between social support networks and proxy Internet use among Internet non-users. Notably, the concept of functional solidarity as a dimension of intergenerational solidarity is advanced, as this relates to the frequency of the intergenerational exchange of resources and services encompassing various types of assistance and support offered between two generations. Empirically, this paper investigates how the two types of social support networks and their characteristics are associated with proxy Internet use. The results from multivariate analyses of survey data from a nation-wide representative sample show that when comparing emotional support and socializing networks, only the latter is associated with proxy Internet use: Internet non-users who have (grand-)children in their socializing support network are more likely to engage in proxy Internet use. The results also indicate that non-users who are younger, more educated, have children, and live in urban areas are more inclined to engage in proxy Internet use, regardless of the type of social support. The findings indicate the importance of empirical investigation related to different aspects of functional solidarity, as the effects on proxy Internet use depend on the type of social support.

Older people and their strategies for coping with health risks

Starejši Ljudje in Njihove Strategije Shajanja S Tveganji Za Zdravje Izhodišča: Članek obravnava problematiko ene najranljivejših skupin v družbi, tj. starejših, in sicer tveganja za zdravje, s katerimi se v vsakdanjem življenju srečujejo starejši po njihovi subjektivni percepciji. Nato na osnovi strategij shajanja analizira načine, na katere si starejši pomagajo, ko so soočeni z različnimi tveganji. Metode: Prispevek temelji na raziskavi z dvostopenjskim modelom z integracijo kvantitativnih in kvalitativnih metod. Kvantitativni podatki ankete na kvotnem vzorcu (N = 558) so nadgrajeni v temeljnem kvalitativnem delu, ki s pristopom »grounded theory« z večstopenjskim kodiranjem analizira 35 polstrukturiranih poglobljenih intervjujev. Rezultati: V percepciji starejših so tveganja za zdravje v veliki meri prevladujoča. Zdravstvene težave lahko močno ogrozijo kakovost življenja, ki jo kot najpomembnejšo kategorijo predstavlja neodvisnost. Starejši z različnimi aktivnimi in s pasivnimi strategijami, ki segajo od uporabe tehnologij do omejevanja in prejemanja socialne opore, shajajo z zdravje ogrožajočimi okoliščinami vsakdanjega življenja. Razprava: Analiza strategij shajanja predstavlja primeren način raziskovanja, ki pokaže starejše kot dejavne akterje, ki sami skrbijo za lastno blagostanje. Na osnovi individualnih strategij lahko tudi posredno razberemo, na katerih področjih bi družba lahko storila več za avtonomnost in vključenost starejših prebivalcev naše družbe. Older people and their strategies for coping with health risks Introduction: This article addresses the problems of one of the most vulnerable groups in society - older people. We examine the health risks facing older people in everyday life based on their own subjective perceptions. By analysing coping strategies, we discover diverse ways older people help themselves when faced with various risks. Methods: This paper is based on a study with a two-stage mixed method research design that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The initial quantitative survey data on the quota sample (N=558) is later expanded in the primary qualitative part employing a grounded theory approach with multi-stage coding procedures, analysing 35 semistructured in-depth interviews. Results: In older peoples perceptions, health risks largely dominate. Health problems can highly endanger ones quality of life, which is strongly represented by the category of independence. To better cope with health-threatening circumstances of everyday life, older people use various active and passive coping strategies, ranging from the use of technological aids to self-limitation and receiving social support. Discussion: The analysis of coping strategies represents a suitable approach for observing older people as active agents promoting their own well-being. On the basis of their individual coping strategies, we are able to indirectly assess which areas we could do more in for the autonomy and social inclusion of older people in our society.

The Provision of Care: Whose Responsibility and Why?

Preferences for future care arrangements are rooted in current care provision as well as ongoing debates, but also indicate dissatisfaction with and limits to the existing care regimes. In Norway, childcare debates are about the equal division of parental leave, in Germany, about the recognition of women’s unpaid work, in the UK, about the importance of cutting costs and using childcare to encourage women into paid work, and in Slovenia about the need for affordable childcare to enable families to survive. Debates about eldercare focus more on the desirability of family care in richer countries and on excessive costs in poorer ones.

Healthcare Futures: Visions of Solidarity and the Sustainability of European Healthcare Systems

One of the most striking findings of European attitude surveys is the very high level of healthcare solidarity. Analysis of the Democratic Forum discussions allows us to examine the basis for these attitudes. This chapter identifies four distinct framings of healthcare solidarity in the UK, Norway, Germany and Slovenia, respectively: exclusive solidarity, universal solidarity, contributory solidarity and egalitarian solidarity. These framings reflect national differences in citizens’ ideas about the appropriate risk community for healthcare and the rights and duties of the members of that community. In the UK solidarity is limited to insider citizens and hedged by a determination to exclude outsiders, in Norway it is rooted in universal collectivism, in Germany it stems from the community of contributors, and in Slovenia it draws on a shared socialist heritage and emphasis on equality.

Moving House and Housing Preferences in Older Age in Slovenia

ABSTRACT Various studies indicate that the elderly are unwilling to move, while health issues are one of the important factors influencing decisions to move. In our study, we tested the willingness of the elderly to accept various housing options based on a large quantitative survey of persons aged 50 and above conducted in 2015 in Slovenia. Our focus was on the respondents’ attitudes to different housing options, especially less-well-known options such as senior cohousing, household groups, family caregiving for elderly people and multigenerational residential buildings. This is relevant for the future development of housing and care policies because in a majority of countries housing markets will need to adapt to the growing elderly populations and their diversified needs. We employ cluster analysis to analyze which housing options are acceptable, how people can be grouped regarding the acceptability of moving house, and the characteristics of these groups.

Homeownership in Multi-Apartment Buildings: Control beyond Property Rights

ABSTRACT The paper focuses on the control homeowners have over common issues in a multi-apartment building. It specifically aims to contribute to further examination and recognition of the role various forms of power play in residents’ everyday life in addition to the formal condominium arrangements. Drawing on wide homeownership literature and building on the structuration theory, we portray the multi-apartment building as a particular “locale” and propose a conceptualization of power in terms of “frames” to be tested for its explanatory ability. Using survey data from Ljubljana, our exploratory analysis confirms how, besides the formal frame of power (property and management rights), two other frames – community/social control and residents’ co-action – are statistically significant for explaining residents’ feeling of being in control, their role even larger. The proposed conceptualization might be useful for illuminating the cross-national variability in homeownership and possible parallels with other countries.

Slovenia: Continuous Gradual Change of the Welfare State?

In Slovenia development of the welfare system started from a state socialist welfare system and was marked with gradualism. A dual model of the welfare system has formed, with the compulsory social insurance systems and the strong public/state sector as the main service provider of all types of services. Due to the deep economic crisis, ageing population and lack of structural reforms in the previous decade the pressure on the existing welfare system has been growing in Slovenia. The current economic and financial crisis set Slovenia back in to the situation of the mid-1990s regarding the low activity rate and high unemployment rates. This has stimulated several of the changes that were introduced in the last few years. The changes in the labour market went in the direction of higher flexibility and loss of some of the established rights. Also significant were the changes in the pension system, as well as social assistance schemes and family policy. The new legal framework has according to evaluations increased vulnerabilities of several groups. On the other hand the necessary health care reform and long-term care policy have not been adopted. An additional issue in Slovenia is the problem of low trust among social partners as well as the rising distrust of people and the increasing perception of injustice, which makes the adoption of reforms and finding consensus on their direction even more difficult. This is reflected in high political instability and civil protests.